Dance with the Devil
by Articfreezer
Summary: Beth/Vitos - Beth is in hell. Literally. Her search for the Yggdrasil's heart has led her to the darkest realm in the universe. Fighting off demons and sneaking around corners are not her ideal ways to spend time. But it seems not all of hell is as hellacious as it t seems.
1. WTH

It was a day like any other. But that was not a good thing.

Valkrja Beth lamented these thoughts as she idly lazed around her room in a camp she had set up. It was late at night, and she had spent the whole day searching for clues of the stolen Yggdrasil's heart. It was her responsibility as the Yggdrasil's guardian, for the heart to be stolen right under her nose was simply unacceptable. And so she had gathered a horde of warriors to reclaim it.

The problem was unfortunately, she had no idea where its whereabouts were. While the heart was still in place, she had clearly not paid vigilant attention to it at all times. But she liked to think that she was at least capable enough to have at least noticed when a theft was occurring. For someone to have not only stolen it without her notice but also without leaving a trace to be found…clearly this thief must have been someone skilled in the evil doing.

It was a serious blow to her pride. Her only option was to recover the heart. Luckily, it seemed that she had been well liked enough that a hoard of eager warriors volunteered to aide her. But as time went on, even the most loyal of her soldiers begun to realize just how pointless it was to follow a commander with no direction. And the locations that she had thought to search were more often than not dangerous places that yielded no results. Morale plummeting and her own leadership coming into question, she had dismissed the squad entirely to look for clues on her own, promising that she would call once again when she had it figured out.

But it had been days since then, and every day become a little tougher than the last. She had exhausted herself so much that it felt as if it were just going through the motions at this point. She was well versed in combat as a Valkrja, so she had managed to fend off countless creatures, even in her state, but she had made no progress in the slightest. She had to find the heart, and she simply could not do it.

Such were the depressing thoughts that Valkrja Beth had in her mind as she was once again about to end a day without accomplishing anything. Going through the motions in her preparation to sleep, all she could think about was where her next location of search would be. Who would benefit the most from stealing the heart? It was hard to say. The heart was a prized position of Yggdrasil, and could be held as a bargaining chip for many enemy regions. Then who would be evil enough to do such a dastardly deed? Hell was the most obvious choice, but she didn't want to venture there for obvious reasons. Heaven was not filled entirely with the pure angels that one would seem to think so she had explored and interrogated areas there first, but there was nothing to be found. She had looked at other planets too, Metropolis and Nadir and every realm in between, but eventually she came to the conclusion that it had to be in hell.

And it was hell she had spent the past few weeks searching for the heart, confident that it had to be here and that she would have found it in no time. But once again, she had reached a dead end. She had thoroughly searched around every corner of the world and had sneaked past many countless demons and monsters, yet she was no closer to her goal than when she first started. She was at her limit. The mental toll her quest was taking was absolutely devastating. She had lost sleep on quite some nights, racking her brain on what she was supposed to do. It was to the point that it was all she could think about. All her other issues, even while she was preparing for some much needed sleep, were relegated to background noise in the far depths of her mind.

Place to sleep- Make the bed

Hygiene- Quick wash, Clean up.

Clothes- Change into pajamas

Knock on the door- Open door. There's a funny creature on the other side. Well, that's probably normal-

Beth's eyes widened as she suddenly snapped awake. That was definitely not normal! She blinked as she tried to get the creature in focus. A demon? But this was much larger than a normal demon! Red eyes, rough looking black skin, two horns growing off the side of its head…a description she had heard before. This was none other than Vitos, the king of hell. The creature looked down at her and opened its mouth-

Beth cursed as she scrambled away from its attack. Frantically her eyes danced across the room. Her sword! Where had she put her sword? A glint caught her eye on her bed. Ah, that was dangerous. She had probably absentmindedly threw it there upon arriving back, figuring that she would notice and put it away when she was going to lay down. But it wasn't the time to be worrying about her flippant attitude of her own safety right now. Not when her safety was actually at risk!

Nimbly moving low to the ground so as to easily hit the ground should her ears detect an attack, she scurried over to her bed. She must have went quite fast, because she arrived without hitting the floor once. In one steady motion, she sprung up and grabbed hold of her weapon, while whirling around to face her assailant in a defensive position, ready to deflect any attack with her powerful Valkrja sword.

But there was nothing to deflect. Vitos's mouth was open in the exact same position as it was when she had spun away from it, and the king's body stood rigid as a board, as if in shock.

It was a few moments before either party did anything. The king of hell simply stood still with his mouth wide open, while the Valkrja stared him down, sword raised and shaking ever so slightly, keeping her body in motion in case she had to move.

Finally, the king spoke.

"…Hi."

His voice was as rough as his appearance suggested, but Beth was not focusing on the sound. Her mind wallowed in confusion on the devil's actions. It was surprising enough that she had been discovered, even more so by the actual leader of hell. But, with all the cases that she had thought up that could have led to this encounter, she could not think of one explaining why she hadn't been attacked.

…Wait, it could be a trap. This was hell after all.

And so Beth focused her eyes on the demon, taking in every action and any small movement from his body trying to find a reason to keep her guard up.

"…Well, I'll just be going now."

"…Huh?!"

Vitos had noticed the obvious tension the Valkrja felt about him. He sighed. What did he expect? Anyone would freak out upon seeing the king of hell. Just by appearance he was enough to ring some alarms. And here he thought that someone from heaven would have heard him out. He must have been crazy. He blamed all this on the boredom he had been feeling lately. The boredom had driven him out of his mind. In fact, something irreversible had happened just a few days ago as a result of his boredom.

"H-hold it!"

Vitos turned around to see a very flustered Valkrja looking at him, sword still raised. Wincing a little at the sight, he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. He supposed it was only natural he would have to explain himself.

Beth was absolutely dumbfounded. Why would he suddenly decide to leave? Had he planted a bomb in the area? Impossible. The king had not moved since he had arrived at her door. Still, she tried to find a reason to be suspicious of his movements. She could not simply just let him walk out.

Vitos took a deep breath as he attempted to look slightly less intimidating. A difficult task, considering his natural appearance, but he tried his best.

"I came to talk." He said softly.

Talk? Beth thought. What is there to talk about? She searched her head and with a start she remembered her quest. The Yggdrasil's heart! So it was here after all! She gulped fearfully. This was possibly the last person she had wanted to find it with. A king of hell…surely no ordinary bargain would be enough for him. And taking in her behavior to account, that was likely to add a bit more to the price. Weakly, she lowered her sword and looked at the ground in resignation.

"…How much?"

"…Huh?"

"The Yggdrasil's heart! How much do you want?" She choked out, fearing the worst.

The king answered her with silence. Curious, she raised her eyes to look at him. His eyes were narrowed and his head tilted; the king of hell wasn't particularly known for showing emotions. But even she could see the question marks practically floating over his head.

"…The…what? Yigg…diesel…?"

"Yggdrasil's heart!" Beth raised her voice in annoyance. Did he not even know what he stole? Or-

"Don't you have it?!"

Vitos regarded her oddly before slowly shaking his head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…"

Beth sighed heavily. There was no real reason to hide the heart, so she was convinced that he really didn't have it. On one hand she was relieved, she could not even begin to imagine what an emperor would ask for in return for such a precious object. But on the other hand, this meant that she was back to nothing. If he had it, at least she would know where it was. Honestly, she didn't know if that was worse.

Vitos stood there awkwardly observing the Valkrja. He had no idea what this object she had just spoke of was, but it must have been why she was in hell. Patient as he was, he waited for her to collect her bearings.

Finally Beth spoke, as if just to be polite.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"…Well, you see-"

Vitos had been bored lately. The position of king of hell wasn't as all fun and games as it sounded. Piles upon piles of responsibilities had to be taken care of, and the majority of time he spent was on his throne. Sure it was fun for a little while. But giving orders soon wore out its charm. Especially since the majority of them were a result of some troublemaking faction in the corners of hell. And on top of all that, he was blamed for whenever something went wrong, even if weren't his fault. He had recently gotten serious heat over the Metro Flower Incident, an event he had no control over. It was certainly stressful, being king. And boring.

He had been so bored in fact that he even did the unthinkable. He approved an entry to the galaxy league for a group of kids on earth. His subordinates had looked at him like he lost his mind. But he had a reason. Those earthlings…even though they were not kings, even though they came from an undeveloped planet of little significance…they had something that he longed for.

Passion.

Something that they loved.

And he wanted to feel the same way.

The problem though is that those earthlings challenged him to enter the tournament as well, seemingly expecting that he knew how to play as a committee member. But in actuality he didn't know the first thing about soccer. Well, he knew that there was a ball and you were supposed to kick it into a net, but that was about it. He didn't know anything about the technique of how to kick it, or strategy or anything-

"And so, I came to ask you teach me how to play soccer."

"…WHAT?!"

Beth reeled backwards in shock. This guy…this guy had truly lost his mind! What in the world was he thinking? Her, teach him?! Soccer, of all things?!

Vitos knew this was coming. He had expected a reaction like this.

"Of course, I can pay you if you want."

"That's not the issue here!"

"…It's not?"

Beth sighed, trying to calm herself down and talk rationally. Surely, if she could explain just how ridiculous this proposal was, he would understand and leave her alone.

"…Okay, I understand that your pride as the emperor of Hellion is on the line here since you agreed to play those earthlings in soccer. But couldn't you have just asked one of your subordinates to teach you?" Beth smiled. Surely, this would be enough to persuade the king of hell.

"No good."

"…Eh?"

Vitos quickly shook his horned head, a funny sight to see but that wasn't the concern.

"My subordinates already think I've lost it by agreeing to this. If I were to go up and ask them now…"

Beth understood. She was a leader in her own right as well, and she could definitely see things from his perspective. The fact that Vitos agreed to put his pride as a king on the line in a competition was already a big shock to his underlings. Had they known that Vitos did it on a whim, and he actually had no experience in the competition he was playing in, surely it would not end well for the king.

They would have most likely lost their faith in him to make rational decisions, and may even try to replace him.

"Then why not ask someone else in hell?"

Vitos snorted.

"As if I could. Maybe you wouldn't know it, but hell's already an unstable place. I've got a group called the Anothers who are already rebelling against me because of some things that happened that were beyond my control. So who could I ask that wouldn't result in me looking like a fool? Lab Rats? The clowns in Scaradra? Lilith? Oh geez, Lillith…I don't even what to imagine what would happen if I asked her."

Who? Beth thought, but kept that thought to herself. Surely some infamous mercenary in hell. Vitos clearly had issues going on in his realm preventing him from asking anyone in hell, but still, the fact that he thought she was going to do something about it, well, wasn't that asking too much?

"In the first place, why ask me?" She thought aloud.

"Hmm? You're good at soccer."

"How do you know that?"

"Er-"

 _Vitos thought back to a little while ago when there was a small intergalactic invitational soccer tournament held in a planet between heaven and hell. He had made the trip as a representative, but failed to pay much attention to the teams participating. Some way or another, hell and heaven both made it to the finals. The hell team, consisting of a mixture between the Scout Entries and Executors, had Lucid as their ace and #1 striker. She had been crushing the enemy teams fairly easily, and Vitos expected the final to be the much the same way, so instead of watching the game he had been far more interested in a giant cake being severed in the concessions stand. But much to his surprise, after the game, a sweaty Lucid threw herself at him and complained in a whiny fashion._

" _Viiiitos! We loooost! Waah!"_

" _Huh? Oh."_

"… _Look, when a crying, distraught girl throws herself at you, don't you think you should say a little more than 'Huh? Oh.'?"_

"… _I'LL KILL THEM ALL! HOW DARE THEY BEAT US?"_

" _Um, that's not exactly what I meant, you know…"_

 _Lucid looked reproachfully at the field, where the heaven team was celebrating joyfully. She raised her finger to point out one of their players in particular._

" _You see the hag over there? She was their real MVP. Once she had the ball and made a move around poor, sweet Lindsey, their whole team looked like they moved faster and hit harder. It was absolutely ridiculous! Hey, I'm cuter than her, right?"_

" _Hmm? Sure."_

"… _You're not listening are you?!_

 _In truth Vitos was listening, but only to the part where she was talking about the player. Lucid, he knew, had excellent technique and excelled at the give and go strategy. Her only weakness was that she tended to get a bit too excited at times and shot the ball for no reason, but all around she was an excellent player. For her to point out someone on the other team, it must have meant that player was amazing in their own right._

 _Well, either that or it was a guy that she felt she could take advantage of, but seeing as it was a girl she pointed out…_

 _It was later that day when Vitos learned who that person was. Valkrja Beth._

But he couldn't really tell her that he learned who she was because a girl that had thrown herself at him called her a hag. Even hell had standards.

"…Because I'm the king of hell?"

"...Oh. I guess that makes sense."

Huh, she bought it? Vitos thought incredulously. But he had no time to feel relieved because his interrogation was not over.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Er-"

 _Vitos thought back to a couple days ago, when a so-called emergency brought a rare rise from his throne into a small secluded area of hell. However, the caller was Lucid, so he really wasn't expecting much. Nonetheless, he would take any chance he could to get off his throne and do something other than give orders. Hopefully, Lucid would have an actual emergency this time, and not another ridiculous request such as-_

" _Viiiitos! There you are! Help me! My pipes are all clogged and I need you to- hey wait!"_

 _Vitos had abruptly turned around and had started to leave. He should've known better then to trust Lucid, but he had really hoped that there was an actual emergency this time. But of course, this was just Lucid, after all. Yet he'd probably still come again the next time she called anyway, since there was always the chance that something might have happened. But, geez this was getting annoying-_

" _Wait, Vitos, wait! I'm sorry! That wasn't what I called you here for!"_

 _Vitos turned around and shot the temptress with a cold look. Many of the even most powerful demons would have quavered and turned into sand from the ferocity of his gaze, but Lucid, perhaps elated that she had managed to get him to turn around at all, calmly beamed back a dazzling smile her own._

"… _Make this quick."_

" _Oooh, I don't mind if it's- wait!" Lucid shouted at his back, losing her composure._

" _Okay, okay. You win. Sheesh. You're just no fun aren't you?"_

" _What do you want?"_

" _Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to tell you that hell's been infiltrated. We've got a hag amongst our midst."_

" _A hag? ….You mean you?"_

" _No, I- How rude! Sheesh, I've forgiven you for everything else you've done so far, but that might be pushing the limit!"_

" _You're right. Sorry."_

" _And now you're apologizing? I-I just can't figure you out can I?" Lucid looked as if she genuinely was conflicted, but suddenly her smile reappeared and she jumped forward to give him a hug. "But that what makes you so fun!"_

 _Vitos took a step back, allowing Lucid to crash the floor ("Oww!"). It may have been a secluded area, but to be hugged while he was on duty may cause a bit of an uproar. He certainly wasn't about to take the chance._

" _So this hag?"_

" _Right. Get this. Remember when we lost to that team in the finals in that invitational?"_

 _Vitos didn't have to think twice about that one. Just like that, he knew who she was talking about._

" _Ah."_

" _Yeah, I saw that MVP hag sneaking around this area yesterday! Can you believe it? Ha, and she thought she was being all sneaky too! As if! No one can out sneak me, you know! So just to prove it, I followed her around all day and traced her back to where she was staying. She didn't suspect a thing! Haha!"_

"… _She's here in hell?"_

" _Yeah! What do you think she's up too, hmm? Being the hag she is, I bet she came here to seduce all the men and get them under her control, causing turmoil throughout our ranks and eventually throwing our entire land into chaos!"_

"… _That sounds like something you would do."_

" _HEY! Well, you're probably right."_

 _Hmm, Vitos thought to himself. Normally when an intruder comes it meant bad news. But sneaking around hell was very curious indeed. What could there be to gain? According to Lucid at least, the intruder didn't actually accomplish anything. Was there any point to what she was doing?_

 _It was then the thought struck him. If this was the same hag that had managed to beat Lucid in the invitational, then she knew how to play soccer very well. And he had foolishly agreed to participate in the Galaxy League without even knowing the first thing about the sport. The fact that Lucid, a well-know soccer star, stood right in front of him was a painful reminder of just how much of a mess he had gotten into._

 _And so, as the king of hell, if he were to ask anyone in hell, he would have lost all the little respect he had as a king. But if he managed to get someone outside of hell to teach him, then maybe it wasn't too late for him._

" _Where is she residing?"_

" _Huh? Oooh, are you going to confront her? This is getting exciting! But hmm, should I tell you? I don't like the idea of you two being all alone together."_

 _Vitos grit his teeth. Curse this annoying women! Of course she was going to ask for something in return. Being who she was, he couldn't really offer any amount of money since she would probably swindle enough from other men. There was only one thing that Lucid would ask for and they both knew what it was._

"… _If you tell me, I'll clean your pipes."_

" _What?! Really?!" Lucid exclaimed with a glint in her eye. "That's a promise, right? You swear on your throne?"_

"… _I swear."_

" _Hehehe…Okay, I'll tell you then. But you better not break your promise!"_

" _Right. But if you tell anyone about this, the deal's off."_

" _Fine by me~. My lips are sealed."_

But he couldn't really tell her that he found her location because he promised to clean a girl's pipes. Even hell had standards.

"…Because I'm the king of hell?"

"...Oh. I guess that makes sense."

Hmm, two-for-two. Maybe he should say he's king more often.

Beth had apparently run out of things to say, as she kept opening her mouth and then closing it, as if trying to find something to say.

"So, will you teach me how to play soccer?"

Vitos was the one who spoke first, causing Beth to jump. She stayed silent for a long time, trying desperately to find an excuse. The two of them were on opposite teams in different realms, and just by that fact alone, she had all the reason in the world to refuse. But it was such an innocent request. This coming from the king of hell. It just threw her off.

"…All right." She said in the end. What was the harm? If something were to go wrong, she could escape at any moment. And it couldn't hurt to have the king of hell indebted to her. If anything, this was riskier for Vitos. Were they to get caught, his leadership would come into question. She was confident enough in her abilities to make a getaway in the worst case scenario.

Vitos seemed to brighten up. Even in a face as distorted as his, she could see something resembling a smile on his face. For the first time, the abnormal situation seemed apparent to her. She had just agreed to teach the king of hell how to play soccer, and he was smiling like a little child. It was just so silly. And in that moment she could not help but to smile back at him.

"I look forward to working with you."

 _Later that day_

"Ooh Vitos! Don't shove that in so roughly!"

"Shut up. I'm working here."

Vitos, true to his word, had shown up at Lucid's house to clean her pipes. As in literally. The sink was functioning beautifully and the toilet flushed smoothly. Right now, Vitos was working on an air duct, thrusting a duster in to clean it up. Simply of his own good will.

"…You know, this isn't exactly what I thought you meant when you said you were going to clean my pipes…"

"I said exactly what I meant, didn't I? What, do you have a complaint? Well, this is hell. Get over it."

"Yeah, but-"

"SHUT UP! YOU HAVE THE KING OF HELL HERE GRACIOUSLY CLEANING YOUR PIPES AND YOU WANT TO COMPLAIN?! HOW DARE YOU?! I'M KING!"

"Y-yes, your majesty." Lucid stammered back. She had never heard Vitos yell at her like that before. Normally, if it had been anyone else, she would have gotten defensive, maybe break a few things of theirs. But oddly, when Vitos shouted those words at her with that tone and that glare…she felt oddly compliant.

Vitos, meanwhile, was silently whooping on the inside. The king line had worked once again. Three-for-three. At this rate, maybe he should adopt it as his new catchphrase. He had never had a catchphrase before. The thought struck a good mood within him.

And so Vitos continued cleaning pipes and humming a merry tune while Lucid rediscovered her masochist side.

 **Thanks to Chupatesta on Reddit for making me this cover! And for those wondering why Lucid is in this, Lucid is Beth's nemesis and has a friendship chain with Vitos, so I played off that.  
**


	2. Practice Times

Getting Beth to agree to teach him was all good and such, but-

Vitos sighed as he lazed on his throne. He was far from free to go train in secret when he pleased. In fact, it had already been a couple of days since that meeting. He had informed the Valkrja that he would go to her hideout at a night when he next had time, in exchange for allowing her to do…whatever her business in hell was, in secret.

The problem with that was that the position known as "king of hell" happened to come along with a hoard of responsibilities. Most involving him sitting in a throne and pretending to read over something before stamping his approval or denial over some new proposal that had come up. Most of the time, he didn't even know what he was stamping over, so it became somewhat of a game to see what had changed the next day in hell based on what he had stamped the previous day.

Of course, ever since his rash decision to enter the galaxy league, the entirety of hell had been buzzing over his announcement. The questions and rumors were even reaching the darkest corners of his realm. What position would he play? How good was he? Could he even play soccer? And since he himself didn't know those answers, it was with all these inquires that he knew he had to get his act together- and fast.

The good news was that with his unprecedented involvement, there was a lot more interest in the galaxy league circulating in hell than ever before. Unfortunately, the concerns of his instability and the dubious glances from his own chosen elites could not be overlooked. If he were to show up as a player without a clue of what he was doing, well it would not end pretty.

And so step one of two was completed in the process to his eventual victory in the Galaxy league. Step one was to find someone outside of hell to teach him the fundamentals. Step two was now to find a way to actually train without anyone in hell finding out. A little harder than it sounded considering not only his position as emperor, but also the fact that Lucid may have already had an inkling of the situation considering he had used her to find the Valkrja. He had managed to trick her to secrecy about the confrontation itself, but were she to find out about the training…he didn't know if anything could really shut her mouth then.

Well, he could always…dispose her. He was the king of hell after all. Politics were a complex thing.

But he couldn't really do the same to his elites. One of elites was missing in action, but as for the others…

He looked around his throne room. Zibroi and Orses, two of his four aforementioned elites, seemed to be having an argument of some sort. He sighed. Those two just didn't seem to get along. And as far as the word elites go the pair were a little bit on the lax side. In fact, if it were just those two, he likely could have gotten away with a vague excuse. The two would be more focused on their bickering anyway. Normally, he would have called out to break the argument, but for the moment he was more concerned with trying to come up with a plan to deceive the elite standing in the far corner of the room, meeting his eyes with a cold glare. Jheet, the ruthless punisher.

Of all of his elites, Jheet was most certainly the most deserving of the name. It was almost common knowledge that he was the most powerful. He was capable of some things that even the king of hell was not. Jheet was the most common solution to problems throughout the land. His mere presence was enough to quiet most of the annoyances. The no-nonsense attitude he always carried around him certainly helped.

Vitos had considered sending him out to a location of a possible outbreak, but Jheet was smart. Once he arrived and found out there was nothing of notice, he'd know something was up. Case in point, when he had approved the earthling's entry to the galaxy league, Jheet was the only one who did not appear surprised. Instead he had studied the emperor with the cold, calculating eyes of his. He was the type who seemed to know everything, and he was the one the king worried about the most on his throne.

"Emperor Vitos!"

Vitos blinked. Apparently, his two arguing elites had finished their quarrel and were now in front of him. He had been so lost in thought that he had not noticed. He addressed Zibroi, the one that had addressed him.

"….Yes?"

"Permission to go to Scaradra, your majesty!"

"…"

"You idiot!"

Vitos turned his attention to Orses, who had a fierce scowl and a vein popping out. Clearly, their argument was not as over as he had hoped.

"I can't believe that you would actually bother the emperor for something so meaningless!"

"Quiet, women. I'm doing this for you, you know."

"As if!"

"…State your business or leave… "

Vitos was starting to get annoyed. And the two in front of him would not like him when he was annoyed. Understanding the situation they were in, they quickly apologized.

"I am truly sorry, your highness."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry for dragging you into this, your majesty."

"…So what business do you two have in a place like Scaradra?"

Zibroi was the one who had made the request so the king addressed his question to him.

"I want to show this bull here what a proper women looks like."

"…You-"

"What?" Vitos said, unsure if he heard right. "What did you say?"

"Ah, but of course I am putting the empire first." Zibroi quickly added. "You see, your majesty, this is good for her. As she is now, the lady here wants to charge headfirst into any type of war that can occur, no matter how unfavorable the consequences may be. And when she doesn't get her way she throws a hideous fit. Truly, a shameful face for the elites."

"This coming from you?!"

"Silence, we're in front of the emperor. You see, your majesty? A severe lack of reason."

"..Grr…"

"And now she growls like a wild animal with such an ugly look on her face. In any case, once I show her what a true women looks like, surely she will change her ways and learn to not be a hindrance to the empire."

"…And you need to go all the way to Scaradra for that?" Vitos asked, ignoring the continually darkening face of Orses.

"Well, you see, your majesty," Zibroi explained. "In Scaradra lies the perfect model of a women. The untainted blend of beauty and personality all wrapped up in one magnificent package. It will be impossible for this dinosaur over here to not be influenced by her. Hopefully, a little more than the surface will stick to that tiny brain of hers."

"T-This insolence!"

"…I approve."

"…Hwah?! Your majesty?!"

To be honest, the request seemed absolutely absurd. Why did it matter how Orses would handle a situation? He would always have the final say. But if he could get two of his elites out of the way while he trained for the galaxy league, well this offer seemed like it had to happen.

"…How long will you two be gone?"

"Er-"

Zibroi had clearly not been expecting the king to agree so readily, and he was caught off guard by the next question. Truthfully, he had not expected emperor Vitos to comply in the first place; he had mostly proposed the trip as a way to get on Orses's nerves. In any case, he had not begun to even think about details such as how long they'd be staying.

"A-a week, perhaps?" He said off the top of his head.

"A week?!" Vitos and Orses exclaimed and Zibroi instantly face-palmed.

It wasn't like Zibroi minded taking a trip to Scaradra for a week. It was normal enough for him. Scaradra was full of sights such as Valkia, the women he had been describing, and…well it was mostly just her. But to demand a week of vacation…and to drag along Orses for a week…just what had he gotten himself into?

"Wait, let me rephrase tha-"

"Approved."

"HWAH?!" Zibroi and Orses shouted in unison.

"Off you two go then."

"Wait, your majesty, I beg you to reconsider!"

"I misspoke! I misspoke, I misspoke, I misspoke!"

Vitos put his foot down. A week was surely enough time to learn how to play soccer, since he already knew a bit of how it worked. He could not let this opportunity slip by.

"Off you two go, now! You did request this, did you not? Or where you lying to me, the king of hell? How dare you…Hellion has no place for those who lie to me." So he said, but that was not true in the slightest. Hell was filled to the brim with liars, but judging by the quivering of his two elites in front of him, it didn't really matter what he said.

"Y-yes your majesty, we'll depart at once."

"Yeah, we're going! Orses, this is all your fault!"

And the two elites scampered out of his sights to head to Scaradra, just like that. That had worked out quite nicely, Vitos mused. But his good mood took a turn for the worse when he caught a glimpse of a hooded figure leaving his place in the corner of the room to approach him.

"…I'm not sure if that was entirely necessary." Jheet told him in a low growl.

"…If Orses can learn to contain her reckless actions from this experience, it will benefit the empire."

"…While that may be true," Jheet replied, glaring mercilessly at his king. "…I'm not sure if that's the experience that will do it."

"Perhaps not. Would you like to follow them and find out?"

"…Ha. And why would I waste my time for something like that? Or rather," Jheet's eyes gleamed for a split second. "…Why would you try to rid of all your elites?"

Shoot. He was already suspicious, Vitos thought to himself. The fact that the normally silent punisher was addressing him over this was enough to make him uneasy. But, he had directly called him out on his intentions. For a second, Vitos could not help but admire his most powerful elite, but right now his intuition was proving to be a hindrance. This was going to be tricky. He would have to choose his words carefully from now on. For the time being, he would try to gauge how much Jheet suspected.

"…Why would I try to get rid of all my elites?"

"..Why? I wonder…"

Vitos cursed under his breath. Jheet was playing the guessing game with that response. Not letting on how much he knew, but not ruling out the possibility that he already had the answer. With that response, Jheet had backed him into a corner. And as king of hell, he could not back down to someone under him.

"…Are you suggesting that I plan to betray the empire?"

"…No, I don't think that's quite right."

Vitos attempted to mislead Jheet with a possibility of his own, but he did not take the bait. Granted, it was fairly obvious that he wouldn't betray his own empire, and Jheet was certainly smart enough to realize that.

"…So why do you think I'd try to get rid of my own elites?"

"…Why ask me? I don't think I would know."

The conversation was going in circles. Jheet was back to using the guessing game, daring him to make a move. Vitos struggled to find something to say that could sway the conversation back to his favor. But with Jheet's poker face and diplomatic answers, he couldn't come up with anything. Luckily, he didn't have to.

"Viiitos! More paperssss! Oh, what's this?" Melchior, Vitos's secretary had arrived in the nick of time with a stack of papers. "Am I interrupting something, here?"

In any type of confrontation, the secretary would always take her boss's side. In a flat out fight, Jheet may have taken his chances, even against the king of hell himself. He was that confident in his abilities. However, this being a verbal conversation, he did not feel comfortable taking a 2 on 1.

"…No, nothing." Jheet backed off, briskly turning around and retreating to the corner of the room as Vitos took the papers from Melchior.

It wasn't as if he had anything against Vitos. In actuality, he would gladly do anything for the king, no matter how sinister. But his suspicious attitude, especially as of late, had been irking him.

It was ever since he approved the earth kids' entry to the galaxy league. A move that had shocked him, even if he did not show his surprise. He had not known the king to have any experience in the sport. And then this, all of a sudden-

Jheet rested the back of his head against the wall and turned his head toward the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he heaved a single, small sigh.

"…Soccer…huh…"

 _Later_

It was nighttime in hell. Though that may not have been the right way to describe it. Technically, it was very early morning since it was sometime around 2am. Melchior had long since gone to sleep. Jheet, who could not possibly keep staring at him at all times, had likely done the same.

Vitos dragged his body along, trying to make as little sound as possible as he headed to the Valkrja's hideout, shaking his head to get rid of his own thoughts of sleep. It wasn't like he needed it anyway, it was more of a routine. It also certainly helped out with his mental energy when dealing with boring paperwork and the silly requests from Lucid. But he needed something other than mental energy now.

He needed to learn how to soccer. And he needed to learn how to soccer fast.

He was there. Now he would just have to knock on her door, and he would be right on track. He rapped on the door, lightly so as to not cause a scene.

There was no answer. Frowning, he tapped on the door again, a little bit harder. There was still no answer.

Panicking now, his thoughts turned from "maybe she didn't hear me" to "she didn't ditch me, did she?" to "she did! That bi-"

How dare she! To break a promise to the king of hell on his own turf. Sure, it had been a couple of days since they had first agreed to meet like this, and maybe she was already done with whatever her business in hell was. She could've at least had the courtesy to leave a note!

Was it because of who he was? Another one of the cases where being the king of hell meant no one trusted you, that no one was going to stay around you for any longer than a few seconds unless they had to? Of course it was. It had to be. This was a Valkrja he asked. She probably had a terrible image of him because of her time in heaven and those scumbag angels. Of course she was going to leave.

He never asked for this. He couldn't control how he looked. More than likely, anyone he came across would run at the sight of him. Despite this, he would always try his best to get along with others while still maintaining his respectable image as king. But of course, it never really resulted in anything. This time, he had thought for sure that he had managed to get someone to agree to remain around him. This time was different. He even gave her a reason! This time, he was desperate. Surely, an angel would not desert someone who had made a request to them. To see that he had been wrong...it was painful.

Whatever. Hell had no place for self-pitying fools. He had come to practice soccer. And that's exactly what he was going to do. A game where players kick a ball around…well he was feeling like kicking something pretty hard right now. Rigidly, he lifted one massive foot behind him, and swung it forward in full force…

 _Another day, another search._

 _Beth had explored nearly all of hell. But it couldn't hurt to search some spots again. Particularly ones she couldn't explore thoroughly before._

 _She was at a fortress, somewhere in the shady, uncharted territory of this world. A secret hideout, by the looks of it. It was heavily guarded, many hellish soldiers patrolled around the place. With all the defensive measures this building had, it had a high likelihood of holding something of great value. But, she reminded herself, there was no guarantee that it was the Yggdrasil's heart. In fact, the possibility that a random hideout in hell held the heart was less than 1%. But it wasn't 0. What else was she going to do?_

 _Of course, the first time she visited the area, she had managed to slip by the guards' eyes, but she had searched this place for no more than an hour, when a sudden fight broke out somewhere in the halls. The activity sent the guards into a high alert frenzy and she had to bail. Violent cries, bone crunching thuds, and even the occasional sound of deafening energy being released all reached her ears. What happened was confusing, to say the least. Her first thought was that the enemy of the fortress's people had somehow discovered the place, but she had not noticed any large army approaching the territory._

 _It must have been an inside job then. But the confusing part was that all the soldiers were headed to one area. It made it easier to sneak out than she had originally anticipated. Wondering what was causing this commotion and figuring it was easy enough to escape again if she sensed the need, she cautiously made her way back into the fortress, to take a peek at the floor the soldiers were all scurrying to._

 _What she saw shocked her to the very core. Not a group, not even a duo, but a single person was fending off the countless wave of soldiers. And not just any person. She had wings. This was an angel. And the way she was fighting was such a lackadaisical manner, it hardly looked as if she was expending any effort. It looked more as if she was deciding what to have for lunch._

 _Despite the lopsided numbers, the angel was also smart. The place they were fighting was a somewhat narrow hallway, so not many soldiers could really get to her at once. An empty room was behind her, and from what Beth could see, a box of bandages lay at the entrance. Some kind of medical facility to retreat to in case she got injured? Well, it didn't look necessary in any case._

 _Beth backed away. Questions flooded her mind. An angel was in hell? What could it mean? Had someone from heaven sent her? And for what purpose could it be? Did it have anything to do with the heart? She shook her head. No matter what the reason for an angel's appearance may be, she could not search this place as thoroughly as she liked. And generally, after an attack like that, the whole fortress would either remain on high alert or disappear completely._

 _She would have to wait some time before she could safely revisit this location. But after what she had witnessed, she definitely would need to._

 _And here she was once again. To her surprise, the fortress looked the same as it had the first time. The only difference being that there were no guards around. That change alone made an alarm sound off in her head. Why would such a heavily guarded place loosen the security? Was it deserted? But she sensed this was not the case. Cautiously, she made her way inside._

 _Instantly, she knew something was wrong. Just like the outside, the inside looked perfectly the same as it did on the outside material wise, but yet it was very different. The lights were off, the air inside felt musty, mold covered the walls, a dark aura was present, yet still not a single soul to be seen. If silence had a sound, it was shrieking in her ear._

 _It felt like a trap. She needed to leave, she thought. But with a start she realized that she couldn't move like she normally could. Confused, she struggled to turn around. Finally, she managed to do a 180, but the door that she had used to get in was now suddenly so far away. Had she really wandered that far into the room? She wanted to leave. And she wanted to leave now. But she couldn't take a single step. Finally giving up, her body turned around, completely naturally as if that was what it had been meaning to do from the start. Suddenly, she was able to move again. She took a step forward. And another. And another. What the hell?_

 _Beth tried to stop her movement, but once again her body was unresponsive. Her steps carried her, unwilling, deeper into the fortress. Panicking now, she desperately tried to stop her leg by holding it back with her hand, but even her hand disobeyed her mind. There was no way to stop herself now. Her body fluently sent her deeper into the depths of the abandoned fortress, while her mind screamed in her head._

 _Before she even knew it, she was in the narrow hallway where she had seen the angel. Was it narrower than she remembered? The crumbled looking walls seemed to be closing in on her. Nervously, she tried to remember exactly how many soldiers that angel was fighting, but she had to push her worries aside as she appeared in front of a door. This was the exact spot that the angel was standing in. Hell, even the pile of bandages were right in front her, although this time, she realized, they were stained with dark red blood. The door was also closed. Without even realizing it, she had raised her hand. Startled, she quickly tried to lower it, but was reminded that she could not control her movements._

 _She did not want to open that door. There was no way of knowing what was behind it, but she had the distinct feeling that it couldn't be anything good. But without a way to stop herself she had no choice but to feel the doorknob in the palm of her hand, and the oh so familiar sensation of pushing it open. She couldn't even close her eyes to brace herself._

 _The sight inside wasn't as bad as she had feared. It was a mostly empty room. There was no furniture, no windows, no decorations, nothing. In fact, the walls seemed to be in better condition than they were outside, as even the mold was absent in its presence. The only thing that occupied the room was the erect, rotting corpse that stood up in the middle with dirty black hair falling of its head-_

 _Beth blinked. Corpses…do not stand erect…_

" _I've been waiting for you…"_

 _The hiss made her jump in surprise. Even though there was only the presence of a corpse in front of her, the voice had seemed to come from the room itself. Bouncing off the empty walls, the voice was amplified to a volume that shouldn't have been possible. A sudden cackling suggested movement._

 _Terrified, Beth looked at the corpse. It was alive. It was moving toward her. A single red eye glared at her from its skull, blinding her as if it were a laser beam. The other socket was missing its pupil, appearing as just an empty hole. A grey rotting hand reached out, it's cold flesh grabbing her arm._

 _Beth shrieked and jumped away. As if shocked by her own scream, she realized that she had regained control of her body. Hurriedly, she whipped around and jumped toward the exit. But the door was gone._

"… _Looking for this…?"_

 _The sound once again came from the room itself. Beth slowly turned around to face the decaying body, and she was met with the site of a glowing door, surrounded by vivid purple light, hovering only a few feet next to the corpse's outstretched hand that she had shook off a moment earlier. And in the next second the door disappeared without a sound, as if it were never there in the first place._

"… _Or was it this?"_

 _In the place of the door was now, she realized, her very own Valkrja sword, glowing in the same purple light, hovering in the same location. Gasping in realization, she quickly checked herself and sure enough, her sword was missing. She gaped open mouthed at the skeleton in front of her._

"… _You won't be needing this, though."_

 _With those words, a sudden pang shot through her head, and she crumbled to the ground. A loud buzzing was overwhelming the room, growing louder and louder, overtaking her screams. And just like it had started it stopped. Beth wearily tried to pick herself up, but felt the energy drained out of her. A shiny glint caught her eye, and she tried to get it in focus._

 _It was her sword. Or at least she thought it was. It was now broken into pieces. Shards of her prized possession lay scattered all around the ground. She didn't even have the energy to feel alarmed or scared. The corpse faded in and out of her view. Its mouth was open, displaying its toothless jaw, as if it were laughing at her. Unable to move her heavy body, she closed her eyes, hoping to escape the sight of the whole thing._

"… _Finished already?" The voice laughed at her, drowning out even her own thoughts. "But the funs just begun…I haven't even used this yet."_

 _A glow of light forced the Valkrja to open her eyes. Blinking to get into focus, she noticed something else now hovering in front of her face and glowing in that purple light. A sight all too familiar to her. The Yggdrasil's heart._

 _Instinctively, she made a swipe for it, but it danced right out of her reach. Bells were sounding off in her head, as the reminder of what she had come here for flooded adrenaline back into her body. But despite all this, she could not pick herself up off the ground. Gazing wide-eyed at the corpse, she attempted to say something, but stuttered over her own words._

" _Who are you?" is what managed to come out._

"… _I? They call me…"_

 _The raspy voice bounced around in her skull, giving her a terrible headache. As if knowing the effects, the voice paused and waited for the pain to die down, before speaking once more._

"… _Lilith."_

 _Lilith…ah. Beth remembered the name. That was the name of the most powerful mercenary in hell, she remembered, though from where she heard that she had no clue. But this amount of power…she had not expected. It was her fatal mistake._

"… _What a shame…I was hoping to see the look on your face when I destroy the heart."_

…

 _Destroy the heart…?_

 _That was absolutely insane! Beth tried to jump to her feet, but couldn't managed to get more than a few inches off the ground._

" _Ahahaha! That's it! That's the desperate face I wanted to see!"_

 _The voice once again shook her insides, causing her to collapse in the middle of one of her efforts and lay like a broken doll in a heap on the floor._

" _Now if you'll excuse me…"_

 _The buzzing returned, louder than before. Once again, Beth felt the energy being sucked out of her. Unable to move, and the buzzing reverberating in her body, she could only think about the heart. She tried to move her head, hoping to catch a glimpse of its condition, to assure herself that it could not be destroyed, but she was not even capable of doing such a simple task._

 _Eventually even the heart faded from her mind as all she could focus on was the obnoxious buzzing, deafening her to anything else, vibrating her very core, and growing even louder. A little while later and her whole body started to shake, a little more and she was violently thrashing around out of control. Soon, something inside of her own body started to break. She started to think that maybe she herself would be the one to explode. And the sound continued to get louder and louder and louder and louder until she felt for sure she was at her limit and then-_

BOOM!

Beth jumped about five feet in the air before crashing painfully on the floor, as a door soared over her head.

She blinked in confusion. She was no longer in that room and Lilith the corpse was nowhere to be seen. Still disconcerted, and her head hurting tremendously, a deep, rough voice roared her out of her stupor.

"DUUUUUUUUAAAAAAWAGH! THAT HURT!"

Beth jumped again at the sound. Completely bewildered, she shook her head rapidly as her vision returned to her.

She was in her camp room, on the floor in her pajamas, and Vitos, the king of hell, was madly hopping on one leg, clutching his other one and yelping in pain at the blown off entrance to her quarters.

…

Was she dreaming?

Putting two and two together she deduced that Vitos had kicked her door down. Now normally, she supposed she would be quite angry at that, but it just so happened that the sound had woken her up from an exhausting nightmare. Grateful may have been too much, but she certainly appreciated the timing.

The king of hell had apparently not noticed her, as he was still jumping around and yelping like a dog. Blasting a door of its hinges must have hurt. And not only that, but the door soared over her, meaning he didn't kick the door down, he kicked it up. That was crazy.

She supposed the right thing to do here would be to tend to his injury. In any case, the pitiful sight in front of her had to be put to an end. With that in mind, she called out to him.

"Vitos."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The idiot was so busy yelling in pain that he didn't notice her. Slightly annoyed, she called out again.

"…Vitos!"

"ARRRGGHHH!"

"…VITOS!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

Beth started as she heard him snap back viciously. Vitos, meanwhile, had stopped hopping around and screaming, instead firing the Valkrja a hellacious glare. Which lasted for about a couple seconds before his face softened and he tilted his head in confusion.

"…Huh? You're still here?"

Beth gaped back, unsure on how to read the situation. Here? As in still in hell? Of course she was. It would take ages to thoroughly search hell. And if she had to leave she would have at least had the courtesy to leave a note explaining herself. Sluggishly, she answered.

"Well…yeah…"

"…"

"…Er…Vitos?"

"YAY!"

"Wha-!"

Vitos jumped forward and tackled the Valkrja on the ground, prompting her to yelp in surprise. Now, normally, the king of hell should not be giving out hugs to just anyone, but he was pretty relieved that she had not broken their promise. This was an uncharted secret hideout, so the chances of anyone in hell actually seeing them were pretty low. And he was pretty certain that up in heaven, angels gave each other hugs like nobody's business. He was around 80% sure that it was a way to show gratitude. Thinking that the Valkrja would definitely appreciate his thoughtfulness he had decided to grace her with a hug from the king of hell. But he almost immediately pulled away.

"…Did you wet yourself?"

"Did I…wha-!"

"…Hmm...perhaps you were so happy about being graced with a hug from the king of hell, that you could not contain your excitement? …Well I suppose I should be honored, but please try to control your bladder in my presence. I understand you're an angel, but hell has no place for those who aren't potty-trained."

"I-I did not wet myself!"

The Valkrja declared angrily, wiping the moisture off her forehead. She had been sweating from the nightmare, but who in the world mistakes sweat for…for urine?!

The king of hell, apparently.

"It's sweat! I was sweating!"

The king of hell once again tilted his head in thought. Puzzled, he inquired.

"Why do hugs make angels sweat?"

"I was sweating before the hug, dimwit!"

"…Oh."

What a plot twist. Vitos thought. It was true that she may have been sweating before the hug. He couldn't tell. Being who he was, he never sweated, after all. He scratched his head in an attempt to try and remember what he could of what causes sweat. Physical activity? Was the Valkrja doing some sort of exercise when he entered? No, that couldn't be it. She had been laying in a tangled heap looking like a fish out of the water. Then, was it the heat? But it was nighttime in hell. And it wasn't exactly a sauna where she resided. Maybe she was eating something extremely spicy then. He took a quick peek around the room. Nothing in the entire room looked spicy enough to break a sweat over. Well, perhaps the Valkrja's shoe did, but it didn't look as if she had been chewing on that. Then-

A lightbulb went off in his head. He had remembered that sometimes fear made you break out in a cold sweat. He had seen it happen before in front of his very eyes. Of course, fear could also make you urinate, but since the Valkrja was so adamant about denying the facts, he decided he would be the gentleman and not bring it up.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, just don't ever mistake sweat for ur-"

"I made you sweat."

"ine…what?"

Beth stopped mid-sentence and stared at him mystified. She had not blamed him for making her sweat. Why was he apologizing for that of all things? As if reading her mind, Vitos explained.

"Well, I guess the sight of the king of hell jumping toward you would be enough to make anyone sweat. So I will try to be more careful from now on."

Beth slapped her head in frustration.

"I was sweating because I was having a nightmare, alright?! Geez!"

"…What?"

"Do your ears work? I said I was sweating because I was having a bad dream!

…Ah, that made sense. Vitos thought. After all, it didn't make sense that she got instantly covered in sweat in the time between his jump and their embrace. Damn, he really missed the marked that time. Awkwardly he shuffled around hoping that the girl in front of him would say something, but the Valkrja had angrily turned her head away, glaring at the wall, red in the face. It was up to him to correct his own mistakes. And he knew sorry wasn't going to cut it this time around.

"Er…What was the dream about?"

"Huh?" Beth turned back to face him in surprise.

"Well…I mean…maybe I can…help you feel better about it?"

Beth blinked, completely at a loss for words. That was actually… kind of sweet of him. She studied his face. His red eyes were downcast on his droopy head. He truly looked sorry for what he did. He looked like a puppy that had broken a vase and knew it had done wrong. And surprisingly, she could feel her heart soften.

It was then she realized she had completely forgotten her nightmare. At the time she had woken up, she was still disoriented and scared witless by its vision and what she had seen. But now…she couldn't remember anything outside of her encounter with Vitos. All this commotion had made her forget about what was haunting her. And that commotion in comparison-

Well, it wasn't all that bad.

"Thanks, Vitos."

"…Huh?"

Vitos recoiled in surprise. The girl that had been so angry with him, so infuriated to the point that she refuse to look at him- she had suddenly embraced him in a hug of her own. Vitos stared down at her completely abashed. What had he done to deserve this? Not finding an answer, he resigned himself to just accept the hug. And the fact that he would never understand anyone from heaven.

Beth finally pulled away, satisfied with the hug. It took her a second and a glance at Vitos's perplexed look to realize what she had just done. Turning red almost instantly, she averted his look and wondered why in the world she just did that. Unable to bear the silence that weighed in the air, she spoke again, trying to distract herself from dwelling on what she did.

"S-So what brings you to my place at-" She looked at the time and her jaw dropped. "3 AM?!"

Vitos was still confounded by the angel's actions and the meaning of life, but he decided to drop it. After all, he had come here to do something very important, and he was not going to waste any more time.

"Soccer training." He replied without missing a beat.

"Soccer training." Beth repeated dizzily.

"Yeah."

"So you mean…two days after you said you were going to show up here to train the next time you were free, you come over here at 3am and expect me to just go along with it?"

"…You're not?"

Beth stopped there. To be honest, she didn't really feel like going back to sleep anymore. And playing soccer…didn't really seem too bad to her at the moment. Actually, she could really get into kicking something around right now. A stress reliever, as it were.

"I guess I am." She admitted. "But don't tell me this is going to be a regular thing."

Vitos's eyes drooped. "Just for the week?"

"…You've got to be kidding me…"

"I promise I won't ever bother you again! Just one week!" Vitos pleaded.

"…Fine."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, it's fine! I'll just cut down on my search time and sleep in a little. I'm sure…" Beth glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I'm sure it must be difficult for you to find free time, right?"

"Two of my elites have left the empire for this week. This may be my only chance."

"…Then it's fine. I'll see you here every week around this time then. And next time, I'll be awake for you."

"…Are you really okay with that? I'm not going to let you sleep all night."

"…Please don't phrase it like that. And yeah, I said its fine."

"Thank you…Ah, right."

"Er- What are you do…h-hey-!"

Vitos had leaned forward to give the Valkrja an appreciation hug but Beth had pushed him away, blushing. What's his deal, she thought. Trying to give her hugs out of the blue like that. Though she guess she felt slightly disappointed that he didn't make a second effort. Wait, wha-

"I-I'm going to take a shower! G-gotta get this sweat off me! W-we're going to start immediately after I'm done alright?

"…Yeah, understood."

"T-then, I'm going to go." Beth hurried to her feet and swiftly walked away. Why was she getting so embarrassed about this? And the pounding in her heart…it was similar to the thrill she had when going off to battle. Was it that…she was looking forward to this? This was the king of hell, she reminded herself. But for some reason, her heart beat all the more fiercely.

"Ah, Beth?" Vitos called out.

"Y-yes?!" She squeaked back.

"…Don't forget to wash your underwear."

And just like that, her heart was back to normal. Annoyed, she whipped around and howled in exasperation, speaking each word in a separate sentence to hammer the point home in the thick skull the king of hell had.

"I. DID. NOT. WET. MYSELF."

 _The next day_

Something's not right.

Jheet murmured to himself as he carefully observed his majesty from the corner of the room. For as long as he could remember, Vitos had been bored out of his mind, to the point that he himself had started to worry about him. The king's boredom was starting to affect his own judgement on matters. It was boredom that made him make the decision to enter the galaxy league, after all.

Soccer. Jheet knew the game well. Well enough that is. He was sure that he could perform adequately enough if he were placed on the king's team. But he did not know if the same held true for the king himself. If his majesty were to enter and look like a clown, the empire would be ruined. He alongside with it.

And he had almost been convinced that the king was going to make a fool of himself. He had seen his attitude toward the game in the past. The decision to enter the galaxy league would be the one that ended him. The Anothers would surely use this to prove how unstable he was. And there was nothing he would be able to do to disprove them.

Jheet had prepared himself for the end. He was not so low of an elite to jump ship once he was on the losing side. His life belonged to the emperor, and when the king fell so would he. Knowing that their time was limited, he had started steeling himself to go down swinging. And he could tell the king had been doing the same.

Or so he had thought. But ever so recently, something, somewhere must have caught the king's eye. Something was up. He was not his usual brooding, bored self anymore. Jheet could tell that much. But never more so than today.

The king was humming. _Humming_ , of all things.

Just what had the king done? This was the worry Jheet had in mind. Had he found some sort of secret weapon to use against his enemies? Or had he found something to distract himself from reality? Perhaps he had cracked from the pressure and finally gone insane.

As an elite, Jheet could not allow this. If the empire were to fall, it would not fall with a disgraced king that had lost his mind. He needed to get the king back on track. Back to reality.

And to do that, well, he would need to give the king an unavoidable confrontation with the reality that he got himself into. The task at hand, so to speak. The galaxy league.

"Viiitos! Paaapers!"

Jheet raised an eyebrow as he heard the voice of the secretary, Melchior. A thought struck him. He should use her. He was of course, not the best in matters like these. And Melchior was as reliable as they come.

Moving from his spot in the corner, he followed Melchior out of the throne room and into her place at the front of the castle. Vitos, as he expected, did not notice in the slightest. The king was once so bored that he would point out when a speck of dust fluttered across the floor. And now he was oblivious to one of his own elites escaping his presence. Absolutely disgusting.

Melchior, of course, was not as oblivious. Once she had returned to her place, she looked up at the hooded elite with a friendly smile, a sight that only she could show to him.

"Yes, Jheet? How can I help you?"

"…I want to set up a match. A soccer match."


	3. Recital

"A soccer match...is it?"

Jheet nodded in response to Melchior's inquiry, as the secretary adjusted her glasses and peered at the ruthless punisher peculiarly, as if trying to judge him.

"I assume you got permission from the king to make such a request?"

Jheet nodded.

"Don't lie to me, Jheet. You know you can't lie to me."

"Fine." Jheet said with a sigh. "I don't know how you do it. I'm always trying to keep a straight face."

"And that's what gives you away. It's obvious to tell when you _try_ to keep a straight face, since you always have one otherwise."

"...If you say so."

"Now, Jheet, why don't you tell me what's going through your mind. And tell the truth, alright?"

"...Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, formalities aren't going to soften me. Tell me straight what you are thinking, okay?"

Jheet sighed again. Melchior was very good at her job. It's why all the elites and the king himself relied on her so heavily. But this time, she was a little too good.

"Very well. You know of the Galaxy League, yes?"

"Yes, of course I do. And?" Melchior ushered Jheet to get to his point.

"Soccer. A sport that is universally known. A sport that can be played throughout the entire galaxy. A sport that brings pride to the worlds that show their strength and shame to the worlds that display inadequacy. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Melchior slowly nodded.

"I believe so. But spell it out for me, will you?"

"Very well. Our emperor has decided that for the first time, he himself should enter the galaxy league. The magnitude of this decision is paramount, since the king himself is representing our nation as a whole. If he were to perform, there would be no question of his greatness. But if he were to perform poorly, our nation would crumble over the insecurity the people would feel of his mental instability. Now, Melchior, I am not questioning the king's decisions, and I am willing to follow him with my life, no matter what the outcome but," Jheet's eyes flashed. "Name me one time the king has ever displayed an interest of the sport."

Melchior's curious smile never dropped of her face. She was as good as hiding her emotions as the punisher himself, if not better. But the dangerous tone of her voice could not be disguised.

"And so your intention is to test the king's performance?"

"Correct."

"What if he were to perform poorly? Your prophecy would just come sooner. Do you plan to try to expose the king to the public?

Jheet shook his head.

"Of course not. I serve the empire. Which is why this match must be private. And if possible, against an opponent from a different world."

"And you expect me to set this up?"

"You can, can't you?"

"It is not out of the question. But what will this accomplish?"

"I will watch the emperor's game. If he is not able to meet my standard, I will drop him out of the Galaxy League."

"Ha, as if you could do that. You mean you'll ask me to drop him out of the Galaxy League."

"...Yes, that is correct. Though if he does poorly enough, I suspect he may take himself out of the tournament."

"Ah, that is certainly true. I hadn't thought of that yet. Jheet, you clever boy!"

"If worse comes to worse, if you come up with an excuse, he'll avoid embarrassment, and our empire will still exist, albeit on shaky grounds. That can be fixed with time."

"And the empire's entry?"

"I am more than prepared to take the reins. The other elites as well have an understanding of the game. And I trust that you can step in?"

"Me? Ha! As if I have a better understanding of the game than the king. In what fashion was I ever supposed to learn how to play soccer?"

"...Even so, if you were to play poorly, it would not be as big of a blow to the empire. You understand?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Leave it to me then. I'll find some way to set a private match under the empire's nose. But it is you who is going to inform him, Jheet. He's much less likely to kill you, and I happen to like my job."

"...Tch. For the empire."

"Haha! Indeed."

 _Three days later_

"Your majesty."

Vitos looked up to see the hooded figure of Jheet bowing before him. A sinking feeling hit his stomach. The ruthless punisher was usually silent, so if he was speaking, something was definitely up. Had he caught on to his secret practices? Everytime he had snuck out at night, he had been careful to check that he had not been followed. Still, he would not put it past Jheet to figure it out somehow.

"...Yes?"

"I have news."

Vitos silently sighed in relief as the knot in his stomach loosened. Had Jheet known, he would have addressed it immediately. He was just that type. So he was safe for now.

"What is it?" The king asked.

"...A team from the Minerva Kingdom has challenged you to an exhibition match."

"Decline it." Vitos said immediately. The last thing he needed was a soccer match right now. Just a few more days of practice and he would at least be able to master the basic skills. As of now, he would simply end up floundering around.

Slowly, Jheet shook his head, keeping his eyes trained on his king.

"That is not possible."

Suddenly the knot returned. Vitos gaped at Jheet.

"...Explain."

"They have challenged you specifically. It would be dishonorable to turn them down at this point. It would display weakness. We have already accepted their challenge."

Vitos's heart dropped straight down to his stomach. Though that was certainly true. If they had called him out specifically, turning it down would be as good as admitting that he did not feel confident in his abilities. Unacceptable for a king of hell. But to have already accepted the match...this was certainly not good.

"...Why did they challenge me?"

"...They must of heard the king of hell was participating and wanted test your abilities. As a kingdom in their own right, they must want to see how strong an empire is. Their princess is rumored to be entering the league as well."

"Is their princess competing in the exhibition match?"

"...No. It is simply a B team, testing your strength. It is an open insult to our empire. So you see, your majesty, you must compete and show them the might of the empire. Though it will just be a private match, your majesty, so you will not need to hold back."

"I see."

Damn it all. This was getting worse by the second. If they had already accepted, he had no choice but to show up. He had to honor his empire's promises as king. But the fact that it was a private match meant that he had no excuse if he were to play poorly. Ugh, this was bad.

"One more thing...this match is set for the end of this week."

"What?! The end of the week?"

"Indeed. So that means, Neither Orses or Zibroi will be back in time to compete on your team. I as well will be absent."

"What is your reasoning?"

"I will be the referee."

"What?! That's ridiculous!"

"...In what way? We are the host, and it is a private match."

"Then, who is going to be on my team? Melchior...?"

"Haha!" Vitos turned to see his secretary enter the room, carrying a stack of papers. "I would love to play alongside my king, but unfortunately I cannot!"

"...And what is your reason?" Vitos asked her.

"You see-!" Melchior smiled. "I know nothing about soccer! Now, here's some papers." The secretary dropped off a stack of papers on the king's table before prompting turning around and exiting.

Vitos couldn't help but feel envious at how easily she had admitted she didn't know how to play. If only he could do the same...but he was well past that point of return now.

"Your majesty." Jheet spoke, breaking the king out of his thoughts. "I advise you to find a team to play alongside with you soon. And preferably a team not from the empire. To preserve your playstyle, of course. That is all."

This was bad. Not only did he have to play a soccer match with a limited amount of knowledge on how to play it, but he had less than a week to prepare and no team to aid him. He couldn't very well get a team from the empire either, as Jheet had pointed out, but not because he needed to "preserve his playstyle".

It was because he had no playstyle to speak of. And if anyone from the empire found out-

Well, that would be a cause for rebellion. And that was being optimistic about it.

Still as king he had to keep his mind level. He could not afford to show his nervousness to his most powerful elite. Jheet was as unreadable as they came, and Vitos didn't know what was going through the punisher's mind. Showing any type of weakness at all to him would be a recipe for disaster.

"Dismissed." He said. Jheet bowed his head and retreated to his corner, never taking his eyes off his emperor, unintentionally causing the king fidget uncomfortably under his gaze.

Upon arriving in his corner, Jheet sighed and rested his head on the wall, wiping the sweat off his head from under his hood.

The challenge had been a lie. Melchior had been the one to send the open challenge to not just Minerva Kingdom, but all worlds. Most declined curtly, including the Minerva Kingdom. The Princess Bell had not even appeared the slightest bit rattled as she declined it. But soon after she proposed a match of her own, asking if she could observe one of her B teams competing. Though it wasn't exactly what they had in mind, they were desperate to get the king in a game and accepted her proposal on the spot.

They had later informed her the match she would be playing was against the king. Undaunted, by this, Bell simply agreed to keep this match private and once again asserted she wanted to watch.

Jheet had no idea what made the princess change her mind. But it hardly mattered. What mattered was that the match was now set in stone.

Now only time knew what would be in store for the empire, and only fate knew what he would do.

 _That night_

"He's late..."

Beth stood out in the middle of a soccer field. After the first night, the king of hell had led her to this location to practice. The place appeared completely deserted and she could not sense any presence in this small, secluded area of hell. But she could not shake the feeling this area had an occupant. The soccer field itself had appeared still usable though, and no one had come to bother them yet despite it being outdoors. Fortunately, it was surrounded by trees and wild plants that had grown to ridiculous heights king himself had assured her that no one lived here, so she had trusted him and helped him practice. But by herself in this field, she could not help but feel a little apprehensive.

But the practices themselves...how could she put it? Saying that it was fun absolutely felt wrong. How could she ever admit to something like that? But saying she despised it was wrong too. No matter how many times she told herself during the day that she was not looking forward to the evening practice and that she was only doing it because it was the king of hell who was asking her, her mind refused to believe it.

There was a certain thrill to teaching. Vitos himself was a very good pupil. He had done anything she had asked him to do, no matter how clumsy he was at it. And okay, it was a bit exciting to be teaching the king of hell. Saying she was having fun was inappropriate, after all this was only for business.

But alright, she admitted, she had been looking forward to these sessions.

The first practice had been a disaster. After a brief rundown on the rules and basics which the king picked up fairly quickly, they had gone straight to work on shooting. Since Vitos had blown her door off, she had thought for sure that he would be a natural as a striker. But the king was completely incompetent at shooting. The very first time he tried, he dug his foot into the turf and ended up tearing the terrain straight off the ground. This was followed the same way it had when the door blew off, with the king clutching his foot and howling in pain.

The next night they had tried again. Beth remembered trying over and over on showing Vitos on the right place to kick the ball, but he never seemed to get it. She didn't know whether it was the king's lack of coordination or anything, but it seemed like to get any power behind his kick, the king needed to tear up his foot on the ground. Whenever he tried to kick the ball by itself, his shots were so weak that a confused dog could pick the ball up before it got into the net. Some of his shots didn't even reach the post in the first place. It was a disappointing practice to say the least.

The practices after that, Beth had slowly gotten used to the king's learning style. Every day she could feel that he was getting better at soccer . On the third night, she had taught him how to pass. As one would imagine, the king did not posses a great amount of elegance with his stature, but she had managed to show him how to tap the ball softly enough for someone to receive it. The king's passes weren't a great setup for a teammate to work off of, but it was accurate enough to get the job done at least.

The following night was dribbling. This was more up his alley, but he moved with the finesse of a bull. On one hand, the king was powerful enough to drive right by his opponents, although he did have to tear into the turf once again to do so. But the way he moved, she could see that there would plenty of opportunities for a defender to counterattack and steal the ball. In fact, much to the king's annoyance, Beth had stolen the ball herself every time he had tried to drive past her. It was amusing to see the king pout in frustration as she flashed past him with the black and white orb by her feet.

Today, on the fifth night, they were supposed to practice defense. She was pretty eager for this one, because she had a good feeling about this role. Surely just from looking at Vitos, a player would think twice about dribbling through him. And she was pretty eager to show off her own dribbling skills. Er, well, that is not to him, but it would be nice if she could impress him with some of her moves. And she knew that her moves were good. Now if only he would show up…

Her ears perked as she heard some rustling. He was here! She could tell. Though he always tried to be sneaky about it, she always knew when he was arriving. Excitedly, she brushed off her clothes and planned out how should she greet him. A thought struck her head and she smiled mischievously.

From out of the trees, the solemn figure of Vitos emerged, head bowed and sluggishly dragging his feet.

"I'm here...GUARGH!" He yelled as a soccer ball struck him straight in the face. "What the hell?"

"Oops." Beth covered her mouth with her hand. "I wonder who could've done that?"

"...You are the only one here..."

"Maybe the ball hit you on its own? It must have been destiny!"

"...I oughta kill you for that."

"Oh noooo! Please forgive me, your majesty!" Beth giggled.

Vitos couldn't help but let out a chuckle of his own. It was refreshing, that someone was comfortable enough to joke around and pull something like that on him. And it had gotten him out of his brooding mood.

But unquestionably, something had to be done about the upcoming soccer match. He had to pull his weight in practice today. It was defense today, wasn't it? Putting on his serious face which, honestly, wasn't so different from his normal face, he got ready for the session.

"Let's start."

 _5 minutes later_

 _"_ Gaahrgh!"

This was not the vision he had in mind. Beth had gotten past him for the tenth time, and he had barely put up a challenge. The Valkrja more or less could get through him blindfolded, he figured.

...This was pointless.

"Hehe! How'd you like that one, your majesty?" Beth dribbled back around, just in time to catch the king of hell sit on the turf, defeated. She had not expected that. The soccer ball rolled past his body as Beth stopped in her tracks. "Huh? V-Vitos?! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Vitos sighed. "...it's just...I guess soccer's not really my game, huh?"

A pang of guilt hit Beth. Had she been...going too hard on him? Ah, of course he would feel that way. She had been pulling out her best moves, on a beginner. Naturally, he would feel discouraged.

"N-no!" She attempted to reassure him. "I-it's my fault. I was doing something too advanced. S-sorry!"

"It's fine...it's not your fault. You're at a league higher than me. I realize that."

"I-if you want, I could take it slower and we can start-"

"No," Vitos interrupted. "No, it's fine." He stopped to give a resigned sigh. "I'm just not cut out for this. Yeah...I think I might quit soccer. It's okay, Beth...thank you for everything you've done. I will no longer be bothering you."

Beth's heart sunk as she heard those words. It was her fault. Despite what the king said, she knew it was true. It was entirely her fault. She had been a poor teacher. She had one job. She was supposed to teach the king the basics of soccer. But just look at what she had done. She had forced him to do things he couldn't do. Exploited his lack of finase. Pulled out all her advanced techniques on someone she knew couldn't match them. And for what?

...To show off?

And now her student was quitting, just when he was getting better. She had failed. And this failure...she couldn't accept.

"Why...?" She half-whispered.

"Hmm?"

Vitos turned to the Valkrja surprised. He had expected Beth to be overjoyed that he was done taking her time. It was a major inconvenience to her quest after all. With him out of the way, she would be free, free to forget everything he ever did to her and resume her search.

But why was she crying?

Vitos was absolutely puzzled. The Valkrja herself didn't seem to notice the wet drops streaming down her face. Or maybe she didn't care. In either case, Vitos stared at her for a good moment, to make sure he was seeing right.

One thing became clear to him. He was a king. And no matter where the region, even if it were hell itself, a good king does not allow people to cry in front of him. And that went twice for those that they were indebted to.

Hell had no place for incompetent kings. Hell _especially_ had no place for incompetent kings.

What to do? What to do? How did people in heaven deal with this situation? A dangerous thought struck his head, and he considered it. He wasn't entirely sure if it was the right thing to do, and it had definitely not gone smooth the last time he had tried it. But he had no other choice.

Lowering himself to the Valkrja's height, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. As he feared, she tried to resist. But it was with slightly less force than the last time. Was this an opportunity? Bracing himself, he tugged her back a little bit more forcefully, insisting on a response.

The Valkrja stumbled forward dizzily. And then she slowly embraced him back.

Vitos felt a sense of pride. It had worked! Suddenly remembering the situation, he looked around worriedly, but the soccer field was deserted as always. He breathed a sigh of relief as he softly patted the Valkrja's back.

It was the first time he had successfully given her a hug, he recognized with a smile. And for that matter, she was the first person he had ever hugged.

The feeling of warmth that he felt from her body was pretty nice, he admitted. And there was something else. Some...feeling, maybe, apart from the pride and relief came from this hug. Though he didn't know quite what to call it, it wasn't that bad, he thought. Maybe the angels had it all figured out.

"Why...?"

Speaking of angels, the one in front of him had just spoken, repeating exactly the same word she had last said.

"Why...what?" Why was he going to quit? He had just explained that, hadn't he?

"Why...is this happening..." Her voice came out in a mumble, and though he was right next to her, what she said was barely audible. Vitos frowned, wondering if he heard her right, and if so, what she meant by that. But before he had a decent moment to think about it, the Valkrja had left his arms.

Beth stood before the king, wearing a brave smile and wiping the tears from her cheek. It was unacceptable, what she had just done. She had shown such a disgraceful part of herself to the king of hell.

"Sorry you had to see me like that," she apologized. "I-I guess I'll be leaving then."

"Wait." Vitos called out. He was confused. And he didn't like the feeling of being confused. "Why were you crying?"

Beth froze. She knew the answer to that question. It was simple, obvious, even. But she had been trying to play it off as nothing. She had hoped desperately that he would not ask that question. Because then she herself could pretend it never happened. Being asked that, though-

It meant she had to admit it to herself.

It wasn't something she wanted to say aloud. Like she had thought before, it would simply be inappropriate to think of it that way. But what was the real harm of a little slip up now? Now that it didn't matter anymore. Why did she have to hide it? She...

"...Enjoyed it."

Vitos frowned, scratching one of his pointy ears. His hearing wasn't going was it? Just now, he had been sure that she had said-

"I enjoyed it!"

...That. Strange. His thoughts were even speaking in her voice now. Wait...

"Huh?"

"I had fun playing with you! You've gotten so much better! So...um, please don't quit?"

Vitos glanced at Beth, who had a somewhat crazed glint in her eye. It was a look he recognized. This was hell. Hell had a lot of visitors. Those that had ended up here for what they had done. The lowest of the low. And a lot of them had that look. A wild, nothing to lose look.

He hated that look. As the ruler, it was his job to being those types to an obedient status. But, seeing it on her face...well, it was weird. Most people had that look when they were about to try something stupid, like trying to escape his realm.

And did she really say...she enjoyed playing with him? Him, of all people? Huh, maybe she wasn't so different from those people.

How could she possibly enjoy playing with a freakish rookie like him?

Nonetheless, Beth stared determinedly at him. She was trembling, he realized, waiting for his reaction. And judging from the shaking of her body, it appeared it actually mattered to her. But what was he going to say?

He was at a lost for words. Seems that had been happening quite often lately. And the last time this had happened...

Hell had no place for incompetent kings. And a competent king had an answer for everything. An answer didn't have to involve words, though.

Vitos took a step back. The Valkrja's face fell immediately. She looked as if she were about to cry again. He almost felt bad about his answer, but that wasn't entirely it.

Vitos took a couple of steps across the field, stopping right next to a black and white ball. The sucker had gotten past him earlier. And he wasn't about to allow that.

He was on defense after all.

Digging his foot into the ground, he sent a powerful kick back at his distracted attacker, tearing his foot into the ground in the process.

"Wha-?!" Beth looked up just in time to see a ball zoning in on her head with the speed and accuracy of a heat seeking missile. Without time to think, she reflexively ducked, and in the nick of time too, as the ball whooshed over her head, leaving a breeze as it traveled.

Once she recovered, she glared at Vitos angrily.

"That could've seriously hurt me, you know?!"

"Yeah, it could've," Vitos whistled. "I wonder who could've kicked that?"

The king of hell chuckled at the exasperated face on the Valkrja. But he wasn't done yet. Breaking into an all-out sprint he chased after the ball, ignoring the tingle he felt in his foot.

"Look alive, angel."

Beth let out a small shriek of surprise as Vitos rushed past her. Turning around to see his back, she shook her head in disbelief before chasing after him.

"There are better ways to let me know we're playing! Much, much better ways!" She complained.

Vitos laughed airily. He was going to have to make up for that later. A king should not act in that type of manner to his guests. But for now, all he cared about was getting to that ball before her.

And though he was not in a position to see it, the Valkrja had a broad smile on her face. For her, this answer was good enough.

 _Later_

 _"_ I can't believe it!" Beth repeated for at least the fifth time. "How in the world did you get the ball?"

Vitos, a smug little smile on his face, tapped the ball back to her. He had done it. He wasn't sure how, but he managed to steal the ball. There was no point in waiting for her to dribble past him each time, so he had tried a full force aggressive attack. Though most times she simply made a move around him, each time she did so, she moved a bit slower. And finally, a chance presented itself. He had her tripped up, and stuck his foot in.

It was as surprising to him as it was to her. He almost questioned if she had let him steal the ball on purpose. But hearing her surprised yelp as she lost the ball, and seeing her now, pouting with a distraught look on her face, he knew. This victory meant something.

"I am king!" He proclaimed, glowing with confidence.

"Oh." Beth caught the rolling ball with her foot. "I guess that makes sense. Wait, no it doesn't!"

Vitos laughed as he saw her struggle to cope with her lapse. Seeing him, Beth couldn't help but feel a little happy for him. Sure, it was a little embarrassing to lose the ball to a rookie. But it was his moment. Look how excited he was. Just a few minutes ago, this was the same person who had wanted to quit.

There was no other rookie she'd rather lose to.

"Come on then," she spoke up. "No need to get that excited over one fluke."

"F-fluke?! How dare you! I am king!"

"Still don't see how being a king explains anything. Prove it then. Try and steal the ball from me again. Bet you can't."

"Oh? Sure you can live up to that claim?"

"I'll prove it now. I'll show you how helpless you really are."

"...Who do you think I am?! I am king...no. I am Vitos! And this game is mine to conquer!"

"Hmph. Get ready then. I'm coming!"

"Try it! I'll show you what real fear is- Guargh! How did you get through me?"

Beth laughed at the king's confusion. She had merely walked the ball past him while he was busy yapping.

"Better luck next time, your majesty!"

"You-!"

Hours flew past. The two practiced his defense for the rest of the time. Though Beth had gotten through the majority of time, a rare occasion allowed the king to show off the ball and boast.

It was fun, Beth thought. No longer did she have to hide it. She was having fun. Playing with the king. Laughing with the king. Beating the king. Even losing...even that wasn't so bad.

It was the best session yet. He had come a long way from her training, but it wasn't just that. Sure, his defense style was more or less a hit or miss. And more than likely it was a miss. That didn't matter. He was playing with passion. And it was a royal sight to see.

The morning in hell was coming all too fast. Before she had come close to being fully satisfied, Vitos was looking to leave already.

"You'll be here tomorrow, right?" She called out, unable to hide a hint of worry in her voice.

Vitos paused to consider it. He still couldn't figure out why she wanted to keep playing with him. He was used to people wanting less to do with him. Not more. But-

"If you really want me here..." He thought aloud.

Beth nodded eagerly. No longer any concern lingering of what was right. Because she wanted to play. It was right for her.

"...I'll be here." Vitos promised.

 _The sixth night_

"Y-you're early!"

Vitos had arrived earlier than usual. It was risky, as he wasn't entirely sure if Jheet and Melchior were asleep yet. However, the exhibition match with the Minerva Kingdom loomed the next day. This was going to be his last practice, and he needed all the practice he could get. He also needed a team, come to think of it. At the moment the plan was to call up a bunch of the Empire's least relevant players, and hope he could keep them silent in the case of his floundering. It was unreliable.

But that was not the concern at the moment. If he could keep himself from making a fool of his name, there would be nothing to worry about. That was the purpose of the practice today. It was the reason he arrived early.

...He was looking forward to this.

Beth was here thankfully. He had briefly worried about the possibility of having to wait long for her, but he could jump straight into it now.

Beth herself was in disbelief. She was always early, after all, what else was she supposed to do at this hour? But she had not expected the king to do the same. She hadn't even planned out how to greet him!

She hoped she looked alright.

But the concerns vanished from her mind as the king of hell charged at her. Transfixed in confusion, she simply watched him run at her. He didn't look like he was slowing down. At this speed, he would probably crash into her...huh?! In realization, Beth yelped and dove out of the way as the king rushed past her.

She rapidly whirled around on the ground, about to ask what in the world that was all about, but was met with the sight of the king smirking down at her with the soccer ball at his feet.

"One for one," He declared passing her the ball.

Beth blinked. Slowly, she met his smile. Dusting herself off, she got up and received his pass.

"See if you can do that again," She challenged him.

"Of course I can. I am Vitos!"

The extended practice didn't cover only defense. After a few of the drills, to the Valkrja's surprise, Vitos had insisted they go over everything they had covered before. Beth was happy to oblige to her student's request. His passing was getting better. Beth didn't have to continuously try to struggle to control them. In fact, it was starting to become a little bit of a setup she noted gleefully.

Dribbling and shooting didn't make as much of a progress. No matter how hard they tried, Vitos could not kick normally. His shots were wild. His dribbling was weak. And to have any consistency, Vitos would always need to tear his foot up on the ground and howl in pain.

She hated seeing him hurt himself. She did her absolute best to get him to kick normally. They spent the majority of time working on it. By the end of the night, she could hesitantly claim that they were a bit more accurate. But it wasn't much of an improvement and not anything that would pass in the Galaxy League.

Vitos hung his head. Beth patted him on the back, trying to cheer him up.

"We'll get it down tomorrow." She assured.

"...I might not be here tomorrow."

Beth's hand froze in the air. Turning to look at her, Vitos saw her eyes widen as she gaped at him.

"Uh-"

"Why?"

"Well, you see.."

"Why?! Didn't we just go through this?!"

"Calm down!" Vitos roared over the Valkrja's frenzied questions. The angel calmed down enough to quiet her protests, but a hurt look in her eye screaming betrayal met Vitos loudly enough.

A pit was in his stomach. He felt...guilty? Well, of course he did. But he needed to explain.

"There's something I need to tell you."

As Vitos huddled close to Beth, quietly explaining the situation and what was to come tomorrow, a shadow of a girl hid in the forest, trying to pick out the words.

The girl had been there in the forest since day one. As if she was going to let him confront the hag by himself! But what she heard him say, what he requested shocked her out of any thoughts of an appearance. Who would have thought that he wouldn't even know how to play the game that he so brazenly entered?

Honestly, she felt a little betrayed. Here she was, a perfectly competent soccer player, and he had asked that hag over her! He had even gave her a hug the night before! And yeah, that hag had beat her in a match before, but surely she was still worthy enough as a player, as a friend, to teach him instead!

But she was not stupid. It was clear enough why he had chosen the hag over her. It stung that he didn't trust her; she wasn't even affiliated with his empire, after all. There was nothing to gain for her to spill the beans.

There was no use crying over spilled milk. She knew that very well. What was interesting right now was the talk the two practice members were having right now. If she had heard right, and she knew she had with her sense of hearing, he, the king of hell, was in a bit of predicament. And now, this...this was her moment to shine.

"I-I don't believe it. A match already?" Beth asked incredulously.

Vitos nodded grimly as he finished explaining.

"If I do poorly, I have no doubt my elites will prevent me from entering the Galaxy League. And then there would be no point to practicing anymore."

"T-that's not fair...after we've worked so hard..."

"Welcome to hell." Vitos chucked wryly.

"B-but..." Beth paled, horrified that all that they had been through and done could be for nothing. It was the same feeling she had when he announced he was quitting. She couldn't bear it. "Do you at least have a team?"

"...No. I can't invite anyone important from Hellion."

"What...what about me?"

"How could I ask you? Then they will know about our meetings. And I'm sure it won't go over well in heaven for you."

"W-well, yes, that's true, but-"

"Then maybe someone not part of your empire could help you, hmm Vitos?"

"Well, yes, but- huh?"

That was not Beth who spoke. The voice came from behind him. They had been discovered? He gulped. That was the last thing that he needed to happen, and he hoped desperately that he was just hearing things. But Beth's widening eyes and horrified face suggested otherwise.

The king of hell whirled around to face his worst nightmare- oh, it was just Lucid.

Shrugging her off, he turned back to Beth. He could always deal with the imp behind him later.

"H-hey! Vitos! Come on, what's with the cold attitude? Vitooos!"

...

He sighed. On the flip side of things, he knew firsthand how annoying she could get. She wasn't going to stop wailing anytime soon. And damn she was crafty. Lucid always knew how to get what she wanted, and with the Valkrja looking at their guest dazedly in what appeared to be cold shock, there was no use trying to hold a conversation with her until he dealt with the intruder behind him.

"How can I help you, Lucid?" He grunted shortly.

Lucid quit her crying instantly, pleased she had gotten the king to address her.

"That's my line! Haha!"

"...Make your point or leave."

"Ooh, cold as always, your majesty. I like it! But there's no use putting on the tough act now. Not when you desperately need my help!"

At this point, Beth broke out of her silent spell. Still disconcerted and not fully understanding what was going on, she asked the first question she had on her mind.

"Who are you?" She called out

Lucid grinned at the question, happily taking the opportunity to walk closer to her - and Vitos - to answer the question. The king of hell, she noticed gleefully, had his back still turned. And the Valkrja hag had her eyes trained on her, watching her every move. Maybe she could have a little fun here.

Lucid launched herself around one of Vitos's arms, firmly hugging it with her body. The emperor, not expecting the movement, flinched in shock and tried to pull away, but Lucid kept her grip. Wrapped around him, he could not pull away now without using an excessive amount of force, and she knew the king was not the type to punt her away. Well, she hoped not anyway.

Her hopes were confirmed as Vitos ceased moving and simply fixed her with one of those nasty glares of his. She sweetly returned a smile, before looking at the main attraction of this exhibit.

As she had thought, the look on the hag's face was priceless. Eyes wide, mouth opened in obvious surprise and she had frozen stiffly on the spot. Lucid giggled uncontrollably. She lived to see those types of faces.

"Wha-what are you doing?!"

Lucid smiled coyly. She was impressed that the hag was still able to talk. Seems like it was time to kick it into second gear.

"It's only natural! Vitos is my boyfriend!"

Lucid could not hold her laughter seeing the Valkrja reel backwards in shock. The news almost literally knocked her off her feet, and it brought great joy to Lucid to see her old opponent in such a state.

Vitos on the other hand, did not seem to notice the Valkrja's behavior in the slightest. He was more concerned with the nonsense the girl on his arm was spewing.

"...I am NOT your boyfriend."

"What?!" Lucid leaned back, pretending to give the king an aghast look. "Vitos...you're a girl?!"

"What? No..."

"So you are a boy. Which means...gasp! Y-you don't consider me a friend? B-but Vitos...t-that's just cruel! I thought we were friends! I'm so sad I might even cry! Waah!"

"N-no don't do that! Okay, fine, we're friends!"

Lucid snickered. "See? Since you are a boy and we are friends, then that makes you my boyfriend!"

Vitos simply stared exasperatedly, no longer having the will to fight the vexatious devil on his arm. Lucid's giggling fit lasted for a few more seconds before she spoke up once more.

"Luckily for you, your majesty, I help my boyfriends. And I hear you are in some pretty desperate need of help right now."

"...You have something to say about that?"

"Oh no, your majesty, I meant no offense. But, I _am_ part of an offense. See, in case you forgot, Vitos, I happen to play on a team. A pretty good one too, I might add. And the thing about this team- the thing that might perk your interest, that is- is that this team is not part of your empire."

Vitos had been getting quite frustrated with the girl on his arm. Her absolute disregard of his position and teasing tone of voice were wearing quite thin on his nerves up to that point. But on that sentence, the last one she spoke, his attitude shifted entirely.

That's right. Lucid was technically not part of his empire. The clowns in Scaradra had not yet succeeded in recruiting her despite their constant attempts, and they likely wouldn't succeed for quite some team. Which meant, theoretically, it was safe to play with Lucid.

"So you mean to say-?"

"That's right, Vitos! If you need a team, you've got one hanging right on your arm! I'll even throw in the added bonus of making sure no one on my side leaks any information of these secret meetings with this hag _or_ the exhibition match!"

"H-hag?!" Beth whispered. How rude! To call her such a name in front of Vitos! She was liking this new girl less and less. She had half a mind to outright decline her offer right then and there.

But Vitos did not see the same light. This was an offer too good to refuse. Here was a professional soccer team, one that had represented hell itself recently at an intergalactic event and had even done quite well in that regard, and it was offering to play on his side against an alleged "B" team from Minerva Kingdom.

He might not even have to touch the ball. And then, as long as he could remember to issue the order that all future challenges to him would be declined, he would be set for the league. Obviously, he still needed a lot of practice, but that was a boulder he would tackle when he got there.

The only thing he didn't like about this was owing Lucid a debt. A king does not simply let his debts go unpaid, and judging by Lucid's mysterious grin, she knew that very well. He didn't think he could pull another "clean your pipes" again either.

But for now, well, desperate wasn't the way he liked to describe it, but there was no denying the truthfulness of the word.

"You're in."

Lucid squealed with delight, tightly hugging the king of hell.

"You won't regret this!"

"H-hold on!" Beth spoke, drawing both their attentions. "You never answered my question. Who are you? W-what is your relationship with Vitos?"

"Aw, do your ears not work too well?" Lucid relied with a belittling look. "I already told you Vitos is my boyfriend! As for who I am, let's see, you can call me Lucid."

Vitos nudged the girl on his arm.

"Your name _is_ Lucid."

"Shh! She doesn't know that!"

"...I can hear you two, you know." Beth said brusquely,

"Aww, shoot!" Lucid pouted. "Looks like the game is up. Well, guess I'll be letting you two have your cozy little practice. Vitos, darling, you know what to do! Talk to me later about the game and I'll take care of the rest. I'll be waiting!"

"Darling...?" Vitos muttered to himself as Lucid vanished back into the woods. He was unfamiliar with that word. No one had ever called him that before. He made a mental note to ask his secretary about it after practice.

But speaking of practice, his partner the Valkrja was glaring hotly in his direction, much to his confusion.

"You have some explaining to do, _darling_."

Vitos gulped. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he suddenly felt very afraid.

 _Next day_

Vitos was exhausted. He had arrived earlier than usual to practice last night with the intention of getting some extra training. Instead, Beth had used the time to grill him over the sudden appearance of Lucid, and everything he knew about her. Once he had confirmed for what felt like the hundredth or so time that she and him were not close at all, the Valkrja had insisted on coming to watch the game herself to make sure nothing "funny" happened.

Then to top it all off, the Valkrja forced him into the most intense soccer drills he had ever experienced. She even kept him working past their normal ending time, demanding that he did it right. He was glad she was starting to work him like an actual soccer player, but he must have lost at least 10 pounds alone in that session.

"Kick the ball right!" The Valkrja demanded. He did his best to comply, but it was never quite perfect. And both he and his trainer knew it.

Next he had to find Lucid, but it was her who found him first. He had let her know the details of the game and when to show up. As a hesitant follow up, he asked her what she wanted in return.

"Don't worry about it," she giggled impishly.

Naturally he worried about it for the rest of the day. He tried not to show his anxiety too much on the desk, with Jheet carefully observing his every movement.

...The match was hours away.

But it might as well have been seconds. It's what it felt like once Jheet rose from his position and bowed to the king.

"It's time."

Hell's soccer field was next to the palace itself, surrounded by vacated buildings one could watch from. It wasn't too hard for one to sneak in, if they knew how. He had let Beth know about one of the buildings that wasn't guarded, and sure enough, a quick peek in that direction netted a flash of blonde hair.

Luckily, Jheet was not paying attention to the stands, as he was more focused on the group of players standing in the middle of the field.

The first noticeable person was a tall, muscular man with tatoos down lined down his arm. He was towering over the rest of his companions. Even though Vitos had not paid attention to the game in the galactic invitational, he recognized this man almost instantly. He was the goalkeeper of the team.

In front of the man stood a male and female, both donning glasses. The female had blonde hair much like Lucid's and had a choker around her neck, while the male wore a regular uniform and a smug expression. He constantly readjusted his glasses.

Standing to the right side of the male was another female with orange hair. With a scowl, she had what he assumed was her game face on. Leaning on her shoulder was a sleepy looking smaller brunette girl who in stark contrast looked completely uninterested in playing. In fact, it looked as if she was putting in serious effort to prevent herself from falling asleep.

In front of all of them, wearing a confident smile was Lucid herself with a soccer ball. On cue, she walked up and gave Vitos a friendly bump.

"Ready?" she whispered. Laughing, she turned around and passed the ball to one of her teammates, allowing them to warm up.

An instant after that, Jheet appeared behind Lucid.

"You dare touch the king with your filthy Cruzentes hands? Explain."

"They are my team, Jheet." Vitos was the one who answered.

Jheet blinked in disbelief. Backing away from Lucid, who had her smile glued to her face the whole time, he returned to Vitos side.

"Cruzentes? Are you sure?" the punisher whispered.

Vitos nodded slightly and Jheet sighed. Had the king truly gone mad? In any case, if it was just a soccer game, he supposed it would be alright. Surely they wouldn't do anything in the empire's territory. He just didn't like the feeling of owing a debt. And he knew of Lucid, thanks to Scaradra. He didn't trust her in particular. But what was he going to do?

"The opponents should be arriving shortly," he announced. "If you want to give me your lineup-"

"Lineup? Sure!" Lucid interrupted, handing a sheet of paper to Jheet. Jheet glanced at the paper and found Vitos's name scrawled in the left back position. With a quality team like this, the king would be well hidden there. He sighed. What use was this match if he didn't even get to see the king play?

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Might as well play it out.

"Vitos, meet the rest of the team!" Lucid urged. Vitos, eager to leave Jheet's presence, was happy to go along with her intentions. Learning the names of the people he was going to have to team up with was just a surplus.

The tall goalkeeper's name was Ronald. The guy seemed crazy, even to Vitos, but he knew he was definitely dependable enough.

The girl in glasses was named Lindsey. She didn't really stand out as far as a soccer player went and Vitos vaguely recalled Lucid mentioning her allowing someone to get through her as she was crying and throwing herself at him after the invitational. He wasn't going to mention that here though.

The glasses guy was Avnore. He seemed to be the arrogant strategist type, Vitos figured. But then he noticed his eyes wandering to certain regions of the women on the team and he threw that out the window. This man was a pervert. Hell had enough of those.

The intimidating orange haired female was named Labella. She greeted him without a hint of fear and informed him she would be playing in the left mid, right in front of him. If he ended up getting the ball past his guy, she instructed him, he could pass it to her or Lucid, who would be striking in front of her. She was about to explain something else before catching Avnore out of the corner of her eye trying to catch an unflattering glimpse of her and glared at him angrily.

The blank girl snoozing on her shoulder didn't react in the slightest to this development. She introduced herself as Anis and blandly told him that she, along with Avnore, will be in the back line with him, before muttering sleepily about chocolate or something. Vitos nodded at her, though he didn't know if she saw him as she kept muttering as if she hadn't.

The rest of the team was a few less capable looking people who Lucid described as their subs. With a start, Vitos realized that meant Lucid would be the best player in the front by far, giving her the best chance to shine. He, in the meanwhile, was surrounded by starters and the goalkeeper to masquerade him.

Not that he was complaining. He was glad that he had some capable players to depend on if there was a need. But he had to wonder if Lucid had set up the lineup this way on purpose.

He pushed those thoughts aside as he started to warm up. Grabbing a ball, he went through the motions the Valkrja had instructed him the night before. Tearing up the turf and hurting himself would look pretty pitiful for royalty, so they had spent a bulk of the time on improving his kicking. Hesitantly, he tried his best to bat the ball towards the goal without ripping his foot apart.

It made it in much to his relief, though it lacked the power and accuracy he was capable of. He glanced up toward the building the Valkrja was hidden in, but to no surprise, she was hidden from his view. However, he did catch sight of Jheet boring a hole into him with an intense, judgemental stare and Lucid, with her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter as if she were trying to hide how pathetic she thought that shot was. It was no surprise, considering the caliber of striker she was, but it still annoyed Vitos to an extent. Retrieving his ball, he passed it over to his honorary back line compatriot Ronald, who received it in stride.

Beth, meanwhile, unable to see the same looks the king saw, breathed a sigh in relief as she saw Vitos make the kick. She had spent all that time last night to try and ensure that he didn't make like a fool and hurt of himself if it came down to it. It looked as if practice had paid off, as although the kick was far from far perfect, it was accurate and powerful enough to fit the bill.

It wasn't like she was supposed to care about the king's image. But she hated the idea of depending on that girl, Lucid. She secretly hoped that Vitos would get a chance to act, and maybe show her up. It was very unlikely, if who they were facing really was a B team, but it couldn't hurt to have a small fantasy of the look on her face if it happened.

In any case, who did that girl think she was, addressing her as a hag? Beth had beat her before in a match, she was sure of it. And here she comes, spying on them in secret before deciding to pop in at the last second to steal all of Vitos's attention and gratitude away from her and make everything they had done seem unimportant.

That is, it's not like she wanted the king's attention and gratitude. This was just to prove a point. That he was fine without stupid Lucid's help. She had done a perfectly fine job by herself, and Vitos would do perfectly fine with the things she taught her, she thought as she watched Vitos trip as he attempted to replicate one of her dribbling moves against a defender who barely moved.

...He was going to be fine.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jheet scowled as he saw his emperor trip himself and lose the ball to the girl named Anis. "What the hell..."

He seriously hoped that this was just the king's way to loosen his nerves. But he doubted it. He needed to be pulled from the tournament if this was how he was going to play. Unfortunately, this match couldn't be stopped, but he made up his mind. He was going to pull the king's entry. It may be a blessing in disguise he would likely not touch the ball in this contest.

"We're here!"

Jheet turned around at the sound of Melchior's voice. The secretary was guiding a group of people to the field, and at the front was the Princess Bell herself. The people behind her were what Jheet assumed to be the "B" team. They certainly looked the part. A group of males with generic faces and particularly weak looking bodies followed the princess into the battlefield. They looked virtually identical to each other, Jheet remarked.

There was only one player that stood out. A female, who wore a dark expression fitting for someone forced to compete in hell, stood in the back as far away from the princess as possible.

It was a bit odd, he thought, until he saw the lineup the princess handed him. The only girl's name in the roster sat smack in the middle of the field. A potential star surrounded by mediocrity. And the princess herself in attendance to watch her perform. She was giving a test of her own. Jheet nodded and pointed the princess over to where she could sit and get a clear view of the match. He took a mental picture of the girl's name as the team began to warm up.

Guinevere.

"Captains, come for the coin toss." Jheet announced loudly, when he had decided enough time had passed.

Lucid strutted confidently to the middle of the field, and out of the corner of the field, the girl called Guinevere emerged from her isolation to take her place aside her, a chlorec expression on her face. Jheet addressed the latter.

"As the visiting team, you are to choose-"

"Tails." Guinevere interrupted spiritlessly.

Jheet glared at her, but she did not flinch as she continued to bore at him with her eyes. Deciding it was best to just get on with it, Jheet dropped his gaze and flipped the coin.

"Heads." He announced. Lucid cheered and turned to face her team with her arms raised as if she had done something. Guinevere simply shrugged and trotted over to her position.

"Aww, too bad." One of her teammates chuckled as she passed him by. She fixed him with an insipid glare.

"Shut up."

"Y-yes ma'am."

Jheet watched the interaction, silently attempting to decipher what was going through the girl's mind. But upon seeing everyone in their positions, he dropped the ball in the middle of the field and blew his whistle.

The game had begun.

The ball was tipped to Lindsey and she dribbled boldly at the enigma Guinevere. Her opponent simply stood there watching her get closer, a bored expression on her face. Undaunted, Lindsey continued to charge forward.

Feet away from her, Guinevere finally acted.

"What? You want to fight me?" She taunted Lindsey. "Unfortunately for you, I don't let anyone get in my way!"

Bam! In a fraction of a second, a flash, and suddenly Guinevere had the ball. Lindsey yelped in surprise. But she wasn't the only one who was caught off guard. Labella, beside her, stumbled and skidded to a halt staring after the flash that was Guinevere in utter shock. Lucid in the front, who had her hand raised signaling for a pass, froze on the spot, a look of disbelief on her face. Avnore, who had been lying on the ground clearly not expecting any action to come his way, jumped up, his glasses falling off his face in the process. Jheet's eyebrow raised as he glanced at the Princess Bell out of the corner of his eye. Bell had a calm look about her.

Even Guinevere's own teammates were caught off guard. The only one who seemed to see this turn of events as normal was Guinevere herself.

"Sorry! See ya!" she called back to Lindsey as she set her sights forward. Her teammates beside her called for the ball, but she ignored them. Setting her eyes set straight at the goal she jumped over Avnore's attempt to slide tackle her and shot.

Her shot was powerful but blunt. Ronald manage to read it correctly and jumped in front of it, catching it before it got into the goal and cradling it with his body.

"Tsk." Guinevere muttered and jogged back lightly to cover Lindsey. On the way back she was tapped on the arm by one of her teammates.

"Hey, I was open!"

"Shut up!"

Ronald bemusedly glanced at the pair before realizing that the two having that exchange meant that there was one less person on his team being covered. Sure enough, to the right of him, Anis was open. He rolled the ball out to her.

Anis received the ball with a yawn and dribbled forward with little contest. As if bored of moving, she passed the ball off the first second she got the chance to a benchwarmer in the midline, who moved forward and attempted to drive past to the front, but was stopped by one of the opposing players.

Labella came behind calling for the ball and the bench player saw her, so she got it. She made a move, but dribbling wasn't her strong suit. Seeing Lindsey open downfield, she kicked it over to her.

However, she had gotten complacent. It was a weak pass, and she had forgotten about Guinevere, who was already moving as soon as she had kicked it, anticipating the pass. Before it had even come close to reaching Lindsey, Guinevere had jumped in front and stolen the ball. And now she was driving into their side of the field once more.

Cursing, Labella dove in front of Guinevere on defense, which she was better at. Confident she could steal the ball back she lunged forward. Guinevere scoffed and simply jumped back.

"You're no match." she teased the orange haired defender

Labella snarled in return. "Watch your mouth. Be careful, I don't like to play dirty..."

Guinevere simply laughed at her threat as she continue to retreat. She raised a hand and signaled her opponent to try.

Labella scowled at her opponent's cocky behavior. "Fine. If I must...what if I do this, and this?"

Lowering her shoulder, Labella aimed for the ball and sprung forward. Guinevere smiled. It was what she had been waiting for. Suddenly shifting her momentum, she crossed over and accelerated forward, flying past her challenger before she could realize her mistake. The girl let out a disgruntled 'ugh' as Guinevere drove forward to the front line once again, haughtily smiling at what she'd done.

Ignoring her teammates calls for the pass again, she dribbled back to the middle and was met with Avnore once again. This time, instead of waiting for Avnore to come up to her, she drove directly at him. At the last second, she changed direction and lunged toward the right, earning a wide eyed look of surprise from Avnore as he hastily mirrored her movements in an attempt to cut off her penetration.

However, since he rushed it, he had sloppily left open a clear lane for a pass, which Guinevere took without hesitation. Barely changing the way she moved, she flicked her foot at the very end of one of her dribbling motions and sent a quick and precise pass to her teammate that had called for the pass earlier. However, the "B" player had not been anticipating it himself. Clumsily, he extended a foot that the ball bounced off of and rushed to recover it. He got to it just before Anis and rushed a dinky shot, which Ronald stopped easily.

"See why I don't pass it to you?!" Guinevere yelled at him angrily as she trotted back to her position. The B team member bowed his head in shame.

Meanwhile, Ronald was surveying his team. Avnore had barely prepared for this match up and it showed, the strategist was sweating heavily with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Better than I thought..." He muttered as he caught Ronald's look.

In the midline, Lindsey and Labella were having a heated discussion, no doubt trying to figure out a way to get around the girl that had been breezing through them. The girl in question, Guinevere, was a few feet behind them, relaxed and looking completely uninterested, watching the pair with bored eyes.

To his right, Anis, to her credit, was looking as blank as ever. The opponent guarding her was the person who had just shot the ball and he was shadowing her closely. That left-

Ronald looked to his left at Vitos, who somehow had a blank look of his own. It could almost rival Anis's, and if he didn't know better, Ronald would assume that the king of hell had no clue what was going on. Surely that was impossible though. In any case, there wasn't an opponent around him.

Lucid had told him before the game started to try and keep the ball away from him if possible. But with the condition Avnore was in and the press coverage on Anis, Ronald decided that right now, it was impossible.

Delicately, Ronald put the ball on the ground and tapped the ball softly to the king.

Vitos stood completely still as the ball daintily rolled toward him. When it had gotten to him, he reached a foot and stopped it, just as Beth had taught him to do. But he had not been expecting to get the ball in the first place. Silently, he looked up. What was he supposed to do now?

A war cry broke him out of his thoughts. He turned to see one of the B team players, the one who had just shot and was guarding Anis, charging toward him. He had started moving as soon as Ronald had passed it, probably thinking he could intercept the ball before it got to him. He was nowhere close.

What did he think he was Guinevere or something?

But the wheels began to turn in Vitos's head. If that player had been guarding Anis, he certainly wasn't anymore. And that meant-

Sure enough, Anis caught his look and slowly raised her hand, signaling her readiness to receive the ball. Vitos took a deep breath. It was time to put his training to the test. He had a clear lane. All he had to do was make the pass.

Cautiously, he brought his foot back and thumped the ball in her direction.

His heart soared. It was a perfect pass! Well, not entirely, he admitted, Anis did take two lazy strides to her left to get in position, but the ball had gotten to her. He had done it, he had completed a pass without tearing his foot on the ground! And that's what really mattered. Is this what accomplishment feels like, Vitos thought to himself gleefully.

Guinevere, upon hearing the random battlecry, had pried her eyes off the two players debating in front of her just in time to see Anis once again bring the ball upfield uncontended. She slapped her forehead in exasperation. What was her teammate doing? He was horrible! No offense, no defense, nothing! She would have to speak to Bell later about removing him from the team.

Or at least she would, if she were on speaking terms with the princess, which she was not. She was in attendance for this match anyway. Incompetent of a leader as she was, surely she couldn't ignore what was happening right in front of her eyes.

All the more reason to prove herself, Guinevere figured.

Anis passed it off to Lindsey, muttering something about wanting to eat chocolate as she did so. Guinevere rushed out to meet her, but before she could get into range, Lindsey passed it to Labella. Guinevere skidded around and abruptly moved to confront Labella, but once she had got there, the ball had already returned to Lindsey.

So that's how they want to play this game, huh? Guinevere nodded in recognition, as she gave up trying to close in on one of them. That was fine by her. She started to skip backwards. Keep away was a game she was familiar with.

Lindsey had the ball and she was dribbling forward, watching her movements. She was confused, Guinevere could tell. The dribbler had no idea what the defender was plotting. And soon, she would have no ball as well. Guinevere took consideration of Labella's pace as well, as she continue to skip backwards. Currently it was a light jog, but once she saw the defender make a move, she would either jump forward or backward to open a passing lane. If she were to move backwards, there wasn't much Guinevere could do about that. But luckily, it was a soccer player's instinct to move forward. So if she was under the impression she had that lane...

Guinevere circled around and shifted directly in front of Lindsey. Concealing her leg's length, she short hopped forward, feinting a challenge.

It worked. She saw Labella jump forward out of the corner of her eye. Lindsey never attempted to hide it. Eyes on Labella the entire time, she arched her foot back in a direction screaming her intentions,

Guinevere made her move. As soon as Lindsey attempted her delivery, she slid in front of the lane, extending her leg as long as she could. The ball made contact with part of her ankle and strayed off its course. Reacting quickly, Guinevere quickly bounced back to her feet and hastened after it before the stunned Lindsey and Labella could even react. By the time the two had figured out what had happened, it was much too late. Guinevere already had the ball and was driving down the open field.

A beat up Avnore, coughing and wheezing his way in front of her path, attempted to stop her. It wasn't too hard to get past him. A simple crossover, and the man collapsed on the turf. She was by him.

Ronald cursed. Anis wasn't going to be there in time and for some ungodly reason his other defender, the king, hadn't moved at all. The girl had an open shot, and he would have to guess and get lucky if he wanted to stop her.

She was close. He could see the whites of her eyes. Mere lengths away from goal, the woman arched her foot back and prepared to shoot it.

He had no choice. Blindly, Ronald dove to his right. He got lucky. Guinevere's eyes widened in absolute incredulity as he punched the ball away. Groaning, the goalkeeper got off the turf, shaking his hand off, trying to ease the pain that shot caused it.

Frustrated, Guinevere spat on the ground and jogged back into her position. Nine times out of ten, that was a goal. Only the proudest goalkeepers would even try to stop that shot. But she could tell that took a lot out of him. The next shot would no doubt go in, even if she wasn't the who shot it. The crying moron of a soccer player she called a teammate could score now. That didn't mean she was going to let him steal the glory, though. It was just a point.

Somehow Anis had ended up with the ball off the deflection. The aforementioned moron of a teammate was actually on her this time, but it didn't seem to matter. In a manner of intensity that didn't fit her, Anis swiftly made a move around him and drove forward. Once again seeing the midline, she transferred the ball to the benchwarmer.

The benchwarmer engaged in a heated flurry of clumsy movement with the opposing B team player in front of him, neither really gaining control of the battle. Giving up trying to penetrate, the benchwarmer looked to kick it to one of his teammates.

To his shock and dismay, neither Lindsey nor Labella looked in any shape to receive a pass. The girls' heads were bowed in defeat, not even paying attention to where the ball was at the moment. This meant the benchwarmer was trapped with the ball. Hesitant, the benchwarmer stopped still looking for an escape of any kind.

Before he had a couple seconds to even think about what he was going to do, the girl that had terrorized his teammates appeared in front of him. He blinked. She was gone. And to his utter horror so was the ball. He whirled around. Guinevere had already kicked the ball across the field and was chasing after it.

Vitos blinked again. The girl with the booster had the ball once again. She was probably going to shoot again. He hoped Ronald could stop it again. But a glance at Ronald's direction raised an alarm in his head.

The sturdy looking goalkeeper was leaning heavily on one of the posts, dirty and battered from all the hits he had taken so far. Although he was trying to hide it by determinedly following Guinevere's movements with his eyes, Vitos knew that he was at his limit.

Avnore was out cold. The man had straight out fainted from the last time Guinevere had penetrated him. He was stirring, but he was not going to slow her down, that much was clear.

Anis, well, for some reason, Anis was staring at him. He blinked in her direction. She blinked back. He returned her blink with a blink. Anis blinked again, before leisurely pointing at a direction near him. Vitos made sure to blink back at her, before looking at where she was pointing. Ah, it made sense now. Guinevere was on his side of the field. She had made the decision to dribble across the entire field. Whatever her reason for expanding that much energy was, it didn't matter. She was going to score. And his team was going to lose.

Going to lose...

If his team lost, what would happen to him? He had no idea what Jheet had in store for him. He hadn't screwed up after all, but he hadn't really stood out either. One pass. That was all he had done up to this point. Was that enough for Jheet to make up his mind?

This might be the last soccer game he would ever play in. And the sound of ending it on a loss-

It didn't appeal to him.

He made up his mind. No matter how foolish she would make him look, he was going to try and stop her. He wasn't going to stand here and just take the loss. He was going to do everything in his power to win. He wanted to go out a winner, not a loser.

...Hell had no place for losers.

From her concealed viewpoint in the empty building, Beth bit her tongue. There was a famous saying in heaven that was coming back to haunt her.

Be careful what you wish for.

And she was regretting her wish very much at the moment.

Lucid had not touched the ball once and the striker's aghast face would be a sight to see any other day, but Vitos's team as a whole was getting destroyed.

The girl in the middle...who was she? Whoever she was, she was single handily winning the game. Beth grimaced in disgust. If only she was out there. She was sure she could come up with something to stop her. But Vitos had told her no, for concern over her well-being, how she would deal with others finding out what she had been doing with the king of hell. She should of insisted. Why did she care if she was found out, honestly she didn't-

Beth groaned as the girl stole the ball once again and made her way across the field. She was playing very immaturely. What kind of player would just run across the field like that? Though it's not like she was being challenged. Beth was sure she could stop her if she just had the chance.

She was in Vitos's side of the field now. But Beth didn't have high hopes. The king had looked completely bewildered out there, and she knew he didn't have a clue what was happening. With all of the practices and drills over how to kick right, she had neglected to go over how the game was played. Sure, he knew about the rules. She knew even he probably had figured out his team was about to lose. But she hadn't told him how to handle these situations. Formations, strategies, leadership, those were all part of her expertise. And she had mentioned nothing. That was her fault.

To her surprise, Vitos actually started to move. Oh no, this was bad. This girl had made accomplished players look like beginners already. What was she going to do to an actual beginner who couldn't even kick the ball right? Horrified, Beth could not tear her eyes off the field, even though she desperately wanted to. This was her fault. This was her monster.

Guinevere laughed as she continue to toy around with her food. The man in glasses was too funny! She could see him struggling to raise himself off the ground, and on the rare occasion that he did, she would just pull one small trick and plop! Down he went again. He kept murmuring something along the lines of 'worth it' each time. Hallucinations surely.

She supposed it had gone on long enough. At the beginning of this farce, her lousy excuses for teammates had run around like chickens with their heads cut off, calling for the pass and trying to get open shots at the goal. Now they were just sitting there frowning at her confused.

"Give and go!" She called out to the nearest member of her team. The teammate behind her who was staring into space jumped at the sound of her voice before getting nailed in face with a shot. The ball rebounded and bounced behind her and toward a statue. Boosting herself up, she bounded after it, ready to chase it down and clinch the game winning- did that statue just move?

It didn't just move, it was coming after her, she realized with a jolt. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened as she snapped her head back in petrified awe of this figure. This thing was massive! What was going on? What was this thing? It hadn't moved all game had it? And what was it doing?!

"GARRGGGHHH!" It yelled.

She only understood the danger she was in a second too late. Unable to stop the momentum she had created she futilely tried to skid out of the way.

There was a massive collision and she felt something on the side of her body, and the next thing she knew, she was flying, literally blown away in a cloud of dirt through the air.

She plummeted to the hard ground with a ground quaking crash, instinctively gasping in agony and swallowing a cloud of dirt in the process. Her momentum carried her forward as she bounced off the ground and landed painfully a few more times before her body scraped across the ground and she ended up in a messy heap, pain searing across her entire body.

She screamed silent bloody curses as she lay there. Hell was a bunch of cheaters! They played dirty! It was a set up. Bell had set her up! Infuriated, she tried to get up, but the torment of her cracking bones sent an all too nasty reminder of what she had just been through. Unable to bear it any longer, she succumbed into unconsciousness right then and there.

Vitos hopped madly on one foot, howling in pain of his own. Too distracted to notice the commotion he had caused, he firmly clamped his injured leg and angrily slammed it on the ground. This, of course, accomplished nothing but further misery from the affected limb.

He had done it now. That kick. He had done the wrong kick. And now even Jheet had seen it. He was going out looking like a fool. Gritting his teeth, he dug his injured foot into the ground, not even caring about the amount of pain it caused him. Eventually it got to the point where it was insufferable and he sat on the ground, giving it a rest. He looked up.

He blinked. His team was all on the other side of the field. Except for Avnore, who was still out on the ground with drool coming out of his ecstatic looking face, everyone else was crowding around Lucid. The ace was bursting out in hysterical fits of laughter. What happened? Did he make such a fool of himself that everyone had stopped playing soccer to gather around and laugh at him?

Tweet! A whistle caught his attention, and Vitos turned to see Jheet the referee, expressionless as ever, getting ready to announce something.

"Goal! Lucid! 1-0. Hellion wins. MVP- Lucid."

Vitos gaped in utter astonishment at the referee. Silently, he turned to look at the side where all his teammates were celebrating. Sure enough, through all the bodies and one defeated looking goalkeeper, a black and white ball lay in the back of the opponent's net. A hand grabbed his shoulder, and the king of hell looked up to see the crouched figure of his ruthless punisher, right next to him.

"Better get ready for the Galaxy League."

That was all he said before the hooded referee left his side, as quietly as ever. It took a moment for what he said to sink in, but when it did, it gave the king of hell the happiest feeling he had felt for a while, and maybe ever. He was going to play soccer.

Jheet made his way back to the sidelines where Bell and Melchior had stood observing. Bell had long since left the stands to check on her ace Guinevere, but Melchior greeted him with a smile.

"Are you sure?" was the first thing to come out of her mouth.

Jheet tilted his head. She had heard them all the way over here? No, that was impossible, even for her. Ah, he realized as he thought to look back at the field. Sure enough, the king was still sitting there, injured and continuing to clutch his injured foot, but with the stupidest, most unkingly smile of all smiles plastered on his face.

Sure, he had hurt himself like an idiot. Sure, he looked like a deer in the headlights for the majority of the game. Sure, it was completely obvious that the king had no idea how to play this game.

But it sure was a sight to see when the king roared his passion and blasted the opponent player into the skies. Course' they would have to work on that. But skills could be developed.

Passion could not.

And it wasn't all that bad seeing the king this way, Jheet nodded. Not bad at all.

 _That night_

Beth remembered the anxiety she felt during the game. The feeling of fear. The fear of the last she wanted to happen about to come into fruition. It was not too different from the fear she was feeling now. She feared he would not come.

If she were the judge, she knew she would have allowed Vitos to keep playing the game. It was plain to see exactly how the king felt when he was playing. He had no idea what he was doing, but still he acted on his accord, all for the sake of winning. It was all the passion a soccer player should feel. Granted, she was a little biased, but couldn't hell see that?

Her wings twitched. A tremor. She perked up. Was it him? Was it? She refused to have hopes too high, there was a distinct possibility of it being the Lucid girl.

But there was no mistaking the figure that emerged from the woods. She almost flew up to him. The king of hell recoiled in surprise as he felt the angel smack into his body. He looked down to see her smile sparkling up at him. He wasn't sure what was up, but he patted her back anyway.

"I'm going to be playing in the Galaxy League," he proudly announced. The Valkrja nodded, seemingly unable to put her thoughts into words.

They pulled apart. Vitos sheepishly scratched the back of his head. He needed to get one more thing off his chest.

"I'm sorry for kicking the ball the wrong way." he apologised earnestly.

Beth shook her head. Vitos regarded her in confusion, until the Valkrja finally spoke.

"I'm the one who should be sorry."

"...Why?"

"I tried to force you to do something you weren't comfortable with. The way you kicked the ball was perfect."

Vitos was taken aback. Hadn't they tried this whole time to correct the way he was kicking because it was wrong?

"I hurt myself. I look like a fool out there."

"But you won."

"Yeah...I won."

"And how did that make you feel?"

"...It felt good."

"You see?" Beth reached up and patted the king's head. "That's what soccer is all about. The way you kick is fine. In fact, everything about you is fine just the way it is." she added.

Vitos slowly nodded.

"Thanks...I'm not sure what you mean, but I'll take your word for it."

Beth laughed. Leave it to the king of the hell to respond that way.

"What do you say we start our last practice?" she suggested.

A smile broke out on the emperor's face. A natural happy look. Beth was going to miss seeing it.

"Yeah. Let's."

Where did the time go? Before it had really felt like it started, the night ran past. Since it was the last time they would ever practice like this, Vitos walked her back to her hideout.

Vitos had tore up his foot pretty badly during the session. But the king didn't seem to mind. Beth worked on patching it up as he spoke excitedly about the highlights of the last practice. Beth nodded and listened, encouraging the king to continue.

Vitos overstayed. It was around the time Melchior would be waking. But this was a special occasion. He was sure he could up with a one time excuse for this moment. He needed to leave though, much to both his and Beth's disappointment.

"I guess this is goodbye," he said as he stood outside her door, the Valkrja meeting his eyes determinedly at him on the other side.

Beth focused on not dropping her gaze. She had to make sure that the last time they were together, she left a good impression. She was sad, of course. She had fun. And she could openly admit she would miss meeting with the king.

"I guess so," she told him. Saying those words hit her harder than she thought. She blinked away the tears. She was not going to cry.

Vitos shuffled awkwardly. He had a proposition.

"Hey, what would you think if, you know, there ever was a chance for us to play with each other on the same team-"

Beth's eyes widened. "Of course, I'd love to!" she responded immediately. It was true. She was already picturing it in her mind. The king will have gotten a lot better by then, and they could make a formidable duo, how neat that would be!

The king smiled, happy that she was willing to do so. But something she had said had triggered something in him. Dropping the smile, he asked a serious question.

"Love, huh? Angels in heaven know all about the feeling called love, right?"

Beth blinked, unsure of how to respond to that.

"Uh..."

"I think...I'm in love."

There was a second as the two stared at each other before what he said sunk in with Beth.

"W-WHA?!" the Valkrja jumped back from her door staring at the king with wide eyes, too shocked to feel sadness.

"...Am I wrong? I'm not too sure." Vitos felt his confidence slip when he saw her reaction. Was saying love too much?

"H-how am I supposed to know? Y-you have to come up with that y-yourself!" Beth squeaked. The girl was hyperventilating. Vitos frowned. From what he knew of love, it didn't seem to far off.

Come up with it himself, huh? True. Only he knew what he was feeling. This feeling, it had to be. He had never felt anything like it before.

"I love...soccer." he said it aloud, testing it out. He nodded to himself contentedly. Yeah, that felt right. He took a look at the Valkrja to see how she reacted. She stared at him blankly, her mouth open. He frowned. What was wrong with her?

"O-oh. You love...soccer." she repeated robotically. She took a deep breath, before turning to face the king with a forced smile. "Yeah, that sounds right."

The king regarded her oddly. The face she was making was really strange now. Did she catch a sickness of some sort? She looked just fine a minute ago. An angel thing, perhaps?

In any case, he was glad she felt the same way as him. He did love soccer. He was sure of it.

"Thank you...for everything you've ever done."

"Don't mention it."

"Er...are you okay?"

"What?! Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"...Alright if you say so. I'll be taking my leave then."

"Okay. Bye."

"...Bye."

The Valkrja closed the door on the king and slunk down aside it let out a soft scream. What was that?! For a second there, she had felt like she was falling, falling so fast that she couldn't do anything about it. And then all of a sudden, she stopped, just like that. She had severe case of whiplash, and she couldn't explain why.

Her cheeks felt hot. Was she blushing? But why? There were so, so many things that she needed answers too, but-

"Hey." Vitos's faint voice on the other side of the door broke her out of her thoughts. "Just so you know...I loved being with you too."

Beth's brain stopped again. Her body felt as if someone had poured ice on top of her. Finally regaining her wits, she sprung up and opened the door.

He was gone. Did she imagine it? Closing the door, she solemnly walked to her bedside, and threw herself upon it, burying her face in her pillow. What was going on? What was this feeling?

Deep down, she already knew the answer to that question. It was simple, obvious, even. But no way in hell was she going to say that aloud!

Never mind that she was in hell.

Vitos hummed as he walked through the forest. He was going to be in trouble with his secretary when he got back, but that was worth it. He was not going to leave any regrets behind with the Valkrja. And he was sure she would appreciate what he said to her before he left.

A rustle caught his attention, he turned to find a flustered looking Lucid emerge from a pair of bushes.

"Do you have any idea," Lucid spoke dangerously. "What you just said?"

Figured she'd be listening in. But he didn't say anything he regretted. At least, he didn't think so.

"I love being with her?" he asked, a question mark floating above his head.

Lucid took one look at the king's face before facepalming. What did she expect from the king?

"I almost feel sorry for the poor girl..." she muttered. "Even I would never go that low. Whatever. Vitos you owe me, you know."

"...Clean your pipes?"

"Oh, hell no!"


End file.
